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IOWA BIOGRAPHICAL SEEIES 

EDITED BY BENJAMIN F. SHAMBAUGH 



ROBERT LUCAS 



IOWA BIOGRAPHICAL SERIES 

EDITED BY BENJAMIN F. SHAMBAUGH 



ROBERT LUCAS 



BY 



JOHN C. PARISH 



THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA 

IOWA CITY IOWA 1907 



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AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

The life of Robert Lucas presents an outline of 
intense convictions and strong assertive action. 
Set in a background of pioneer conditions, it 
partook distinctly of the characteristic vigor 
and ruggedness of that great westward move- 
ment. Robert Lucas was one who made up his 
mind definitely and positively; and when once 
convinced of the righteousness of a course of 
action, no power could divert him from it. His 
determination amounted in some cases, perhaps, 
to stubbornness. The intense earnestness with 
which he pursued what he deemed to be right 
-aroused hostilities which a man of greater tact 
and less strong convictions might have avoided. 
But the aggressive strength of character of an 
Executive like Robert Lucas was greatly needed 
both in the formative period of the State of 
Ohio and in the period of the organization of the 
Territory of Iowa. This volume is written in 
the hope that it may lead to the better ap- 
preciation of the life of one who, though sorely 



X AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

buffeted, kept to tlie end his energetic patri- 
otism and adherence to the principles of civic 
righteousness. 

The most important source of information 
from which this biography was written is the 
collection of letters and papers of Robert Lucas, 
preserved through half a century by his descend- 
ants and heretofore unknown to the student of 
Iowa history. The discovery by Professor Benj. 
F. Shambaugh of the original manuscript of the 
Executive Journal of loioa^ 1838-1841, covering 
the term of Governor Lucas, strengthened the 
belief that there must be papers in the posses- 
sion of the descendants of the Governor which 
would add materially to the knowledge concern- 
ing his career. Inquiries were made, and through 
the kindness of Robert Lucas, of Iowa City, 
grandson of the Governor, a collection of per- 
haps two thousand manuscripts was placed at 
the disposal of the author. These included 
speeches, military commissions and reports^ 
and letters written both in Ohio and in Iowa, 
bearing dates from 1803 to 1853. Without 
this material an adequate treatment of the life 
of Robert Lucas would have been impossible. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE xi 

The utmost gratitude is therefore due to Robert 
Lucas, the grandson, not only for this first great 
assistance, but for his many subsequent kind- 
nesses in furthering the work. 

Aside from this source, valuable material 
was gathered in Ohio and elsewhere. In the 
use of quotations the author has followed the 
practice of editing with exactness, following the 
original in spelling, punctuation, and capitaliza- 
tion. Citation to authorities and additional items 
of information will be found under Notes and 
Heferences at the close of the text. 

To the editor of the series, Professor Benj. F. 
Shambaugh, the author desires to make especial 
acknowledgments. It was at his instance that 
the work was undertaken; and in the collection 
of material he has rendered valuable aid. He 
read the entire book both in manuscript and in 
proof, making helpful suggestions in many ways. 
In particular, for his inspiration and constant 
personal interest in the work the author is sin- 
cerely grateful. 

John C. Parish 

The State University of Iowa 



Iowa City Iowa 



CONTENTS 

I. Early Life 1 

II. Military Matters 8 

III. Political Beginnings 16 

IV. The War of 1812 25 

V. The Invasion of Canada 38 

VI. The Surrender of Detroit .... 48 

VII. The Close of the War 56 

VIII. State Senator 70 

IX. A Jacksonian Democrat 82 

X. State Politics 95 

XI. The Baltimore Convention . . . .105 

XII. Governor of Ohio 115 

XIII. The Ohio-Michigan Boundary . . . 126 

XIV. The Toledo War 138 

XV. 1836-1838 150 

XVI. From Ohio to Iowa 160 

XVII. Secretary Conway 168 

XVIII. The First Legislative Assembly . .179 

XIX. Territorial Expenditures . . . .187 

XX. The Executive Veto 200 

XXI. The End of the Controversy . . .216 

XXII. The Missouri-Iowa Boundary . . ,227 



xiv CONTENTS 

XXIII. Removal from Office 258 

XXIV. Later Politics 267 

XXV. Political Philosophy 278 

XXVI. The Last Days 284 

Notes and References 293 

Index 339 



PORTRAITS 

Robert Lucas, from an oil painting . . frontispiece 
Robert Lucas, from a water color painting opposite 25 
Robert Lucas, from a crayon . . . opposite 82 



\ 



Early Life 



The history of tlie Lucas family is a story of 
pioneer settlements and frontier life, a tale of 
Indian wars and boundary disputes, a story with 
chapters generations long, with ever the same 
pioneer background and ever the same pursuit 
of the border-line of civilization from England 
in the Cromwellian days to the middle of the 
American continent two centuries later. In a 
word it is the story of the transcontinental march 
of the American pioneer — that wonderful tale, 
already three centuries long and still unfinished, 
which will some day be the theme when the na- 
tion's epic is sung. 

In England the Lucas family had been Quak- 
er; and when the tide of westward colonization 
set toward American shores there crossed the 
Atlantic one Eobert Lucas who arrived in 1679 
and took part in the founding of William Penn's 
colony.^ Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was his 
habitat; and here generations sprang forth to 
carry on the work he had begun. Here Edward 
1 



2 ROBERT LUCAS 

Lucas, the grandfatlier of Governor Kobert Lu- 
cas, was born and reared and married. For his 
Avife he took Mary Darke, a descendent of a 
Cromwellian soldier named John Rush. This 
same John Rush had married Susanna Lucas at 
the close of the war, turned Quaker, and crossed 
the waters to Pennsylvania in 1683.^ 

Pennsylvania grew rapidly and prospered ; so 
that, by the time of Edward Lucas and Mary 
Darke, Bucks County had ceased to be the fron- 
tier. The spirit of their fathers pointed toward 
the mountains; and so, westward beyond the 
Blue Ridge peaks and the Potomac River, Ed- 
ward Lucas led his bride and settled down again 
on the border land. It was near the year 1735, 
runs the tradition, that he purchased from Lord 
Fairfax 10,000 acres of land in Jefferson Coun- 
ty, Virginia, and made a home for himself and 
Mary a few miles above the juncture of the 
Shenandoah and Potomac rivers.^ In this home, 
in the course of years, a family of children grew 
up; and among them, born about 1743, was 
AVilliam Lucas, father of Robert. As he grew 
into manhood he met and married, at Shepherds- 
town, Miss Susannah Barnes, likewise of Jeffer- 
son County. It was Joseph Barnes, a brother, 
who a few years later, according to local tradi- 
tions, successfully propelled against the current 



EARLY LIFE 3 

of tlie Potomac River a steamboat of liis own 
invention — Ions; before Fulton's Clermont bad 
plouglied tbe waters of tlie Hudson. 

In William tbe long slumbering instincts of 
tbe Quaker seem to bave passed away forever; 
for wben tbe Revolution convulsed tbe little 
line of American Colonies, be enlisted as a pri- 
vate in a company of tbe 2d Virginia Regiment, 
captained by Natbaniel Welcb.^ His enlistment 
was on February 13, 1777, and for a term of 
tbree years. Moreover, tbe army records do not 
sbow tbat be attained in tbat time bigber rank 
tban tbat of private. His military service, bow- 
ever, did not end witb tbe Continental army. 
In tbe Sbenandoab Valley in tbose days tbe 
Indian troubles were a matter of no small con- 
cern. If tbe colonies needed protection against 
tbe civilized nation across tbe waters, tbey need- 
ed no less protection against tbe uncivilized 
nations on tbe western border. It seems tbat 
William Lucas was captain of a company en- 
gaged in tbis frontier duty, and at tbe muster of 
tbis company in January, 1781, was read a proc- 
lamation by Governor Tbomas Jefferson of Vir- 
ginia, warning all wbo liad sworn allegiance to 
England to leave tbe country.^ 

It was in tbese eventful times and stirrins; en- 
vironments tbat Robert Lucas was born at Sbep- 



4 ROBERT LUCAS 

lierclstown, Jefferson County, Virginia, on tlie 
first day of April, 1781.^ That be spent his 
boyhood in much the same way as other Vir- 
ginia youths of that day is presumable. There 
was plenty to interest him. It may be that he 
amused himself in watching the experiments of 
his uncle Joseph and the engineer Rumsey with 
the steamboat at Shepherdstown. He may per- 
haps have seen the trial trip and envied his ten 
year old cousin, John Barnes, who was a passen- 
ger on the boat and who afterwards served with 
him in the Ohio Legislature."^ 

But little is known of Robert's early life. 
His father seems to have been possessed of land 
and slaves; and in this typical Virginia environ- 
ment the boy grew to manhood. He is said to 
have received his early education in part from a 
private tutor (a Scotch schoolmaster named Mc- 
Mullen, or McMurr^n) who instructed him par- 
ticularly in mathematics and surveying.^ In the 
light of his later career, and perhaps shaping it 
in a measure, this training was certainly of great 
value. 

As years and these troublous times passed, 
the men of '76 turned themselves to the pur- 
suits of peace and nation-building. But the war 
had bred a restless spirit; and out through the 
Cumberland Gap and down the winding ways 



EARLY LIFE 5 

of the Avestward flowing rivers went little bands 
of strong and rugged frontiersmen, at first to 
Tennessee and Kentucky and later to the broad 
rich valleys north of the Ohio Kiver. In the 
spring of 1788 a company of New Englanders 
landed at the mouth of the Muskingum River 
and founded the first town in the Northwest 
Territory, naming it Marietta. Following the 
pioneers of this settlement came others. Flat- 
boats and rafts drifted lazily down the Ohio 
River depositing individuals and families here 
and there on its shores, like seeds carried far 
oft by the wind. 

To the men who had settled the Shenandoah 
Valley, the groping for the edge of civilization 
had become a passion; and to let that enchanted 
border-line slip out westward and away from 
them Avas not to be thouo;ht of. The Lucas 
family was no exception to this rule. And so, 
about 1796, William and Joseph, two older broth- 
ers of Robert, left the JefiPerson Valley and 
made their way to the Ohio country, pausing 
near the mouth of the Scioto River. ^ Where 
the Scioto empties into the Ohio, they found 
the land subject to inundations. They there- 
fore moved on up the Scioto River before set- 
tling down to Avait for civilization. William 
Lucas became in time a General in the Ohio 



6 ROBERT LUCAS 

Militia, in command of tlie 1st Brigade, 2d Divi- 
sion. Joseph sought more peaceful ways. He 
entered politics and represented Adams County 
in the first legislature of the State of Ohio, which 
convened at Chillicothe in March, 1803. He 
was also appointed in that year Associate Judge 
of the Court of Common Pleas; and in this serv- 
ice he continued until his death in 1808.^^ 

Meanwhile, back in Jefferson County, the old 
Revolutionary soldier felt the spirit of disquiet 
working in his bones, and the allurements of the 
west proved too great for him. A Virginian by 
birth, and a Jeffersonian democrat by everything 
sacred to politics, William Lucas waited only to 
cast his vote in 1800 for Thomas Jefferson as 
President, then moved with his family to the 
land where two of his sons were awaiting him.^^ 
Some, at least, of his slaves he took with him 
and freed in Ohio where they were thereafter 
known as the Lucas negroes. On either side of 
the Scioto River he bought land and settled 
down in what is now Scioto County. ^^ Such was 
the third transplanting of the Lucas family — 
and the end was not yet. 

Ohio was not then a State. Early in the year 
1800 the Northwest Territory had been divided 
and the western part organized as the Territory 
of Indiana; while the district that is now Ohio, 



EARLY LIFE 7 

together with a part of Avhat is noAv Michigan, 
remained as the Northwest Temtory.^-^ A few 
settlements had sprung up here and there, but 
for the most j)art the country lay in unbroken 
forests and untilled plains. All day long the 
pioneer settler worked in his clearing and lay 
down at night with only the mournful howl of 
the wolves to disturb his quiet. The game of 
the forests sufficed for food; and the buckeye 
and bearskin provided materials for furniture 
and bedding. He lived much out of doors, and 
enlivened his existence by an occasional bear 
hunt, wedding, or camp meeting. ^^ As popula- 
tion grew and Ohio entered upon statehood, 
these frontier conditions gradually changed. 

But for more than thirty years the history of 
this great Commonwealth is characterized by 
that sturdy western ruggedness and independ- 
ence Avhich conquered the forest and the prairie, 
built roads and canals, and everywhere laid the 
foundations of our democratic social and polit- 
ical institutions. 



II 

Military Matters 

The opening of a new century found Robert 
Lucas just entering upon Ms years of manhood, 
with the instincts of a Virginia gentlemail and 
the reckless vigor and spirit of a frontiersman. 
His training under the Scotch schoolmaster in 
Virginia was just such as would fit him for life 
in this new country. Land was unsurveyed, 
claims were indefinite, and boundaries were in 
dispute. In December of 1803 he was appoint- 
ed Surveyor of Scioto County; and in this capac- 
ity, in connection with Nathaniel Beasley, of 
Adams County, he ran the line between the two 
counties of Scioto and Adams. ^^ 

In these early days, too, he became interested 
in the militia movement which throughout his 
life enlisted his most intense sympathy and sup- 
port. His military career began in this wise. In 
the year 1803 was consummated the treaty be- 
tween President Jefferson and Napoleon for the 
purchase of the Territory of Louisiana. Now 
this territory had been only a few years before 



MILITARY MATTERS 9 

ceded to France by Spain and was still in pos- 
session of the Spanish officials. The treaty be- 
tween France and Spain, moreover, expressly 
forbade the transfer of the country by Napoleon 
to another power. So when the perfidious Na- 
poleon made arrangements to break his agree- 
ment and sell to the United States, Spain imme- 
diately entered protest. With SjDain in posses- 
sion of the territory and in a bad humor over the 
matter, the state of affairs was somewhat critical. 
In view of the anticipated refusal of Spain to 
give up possession of the recently acquired ter- 
ritory the President deemed military precautions 
advisable. As a part of this plan Secretary of 
War Henry Dearborn, on October 31, 1803, 
issued to Governor Tiffin of Ohio, a request for 
the assemblino; of five hundred men of the Mili- 
tia of Ohio to be formed into a reo^iment of eio:ht 
companies. In compliance with this request, 
Governor Tiffin appointed various men in the 
State to raise enlistments of ten, twenty, or thir- 
ty men each. Commissions as ensigns, lieuten- 
ants and captains respectively were to be given 
upon receipt of the muster roll of these enlist- 
ments. Robert Lucas received a commission to 
recruit twenty volunteers. The active service 
of these troops was not required, however, for 
Spain withdrew her protest at the dictation of 



10 ROBERT LUCAS 

Napoleon and the transfer was peacefully con- 
summated. On May 24, 1804, Lucas was com- 
missioned Lieutenant of the third company of 
militia in the county of Scioto, in the 1st Bri- 
gade of the 2d Division of the Ohio Militia. ^^ 

On November 2, 1804, he was made Brigade 
Inspector of the 1st Brigade with the rank of 
Major, and on the same day resigned his lieuten- 
ancy. In the year and a half that followed little 
is known of his military life, but he must have 
retained his interest and enthusiasm, for on Feb- 
ruary 14, 1807, he received a commission as 
Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the 2d Begi- 
ment, 1st Brigade, 2d Division of the Ohio 
Militia. This command of a frontier brigade 
soon brought him into a position of special op- 
portunity. 

Relations between England and the United 
States, and France and the United States were, 
in the spring of 1807, in a very critical condi- 
tion.^' The alternate decrees of England and 
France regarding neutrals had inflicted great in- 
jury upon our commerce. For months Monroe, 
joined by Pinckney, had been laboring at Lon- 
don to negotiate a treaty on commercial lines. 
But the action taken by England in May, 1806, 
blockading the European Coast, could not pass 
unnoticed by Napoleon and his retaliatory Ber- 



MILITARY MATTERS H 

liii decree which on November 21, 1806, block- 
aded the British Islands, practically wrecked all 
hope of bringing negotiations to a favorable 
conclusion. England and France pursued their 
struggle regardless of the right of neutrals and 
only now and then paused to throw out a worth- 
less promise or an unauthorized negotiation as 
a sop to the feeble protests of the American 
administration. 

Thus matters stood when the Chesapeake af- 
fair occured in June, 1807. It was only the cul- 
mination of a lono; series of insults offered to 
America by British officers on our eastern coast. 
On the morning of the twenty-second of June 
the United States ship Chesapeake left Norfolk 
and sailed out of Hampton Roads on her way to 
the Mediterranean. The English ship Leopard 
followed her out upon the high seas, spoke her, 
and demanded the right to search her and carry 
off certain seamen claimed to have deserted from 
English ships. This was refused by Commo- 
dore Barron; w^hereupon the English command- 
er opened his broadsides upon the American 
vessel. The Chesapeake was in every way un- 
prepared for conflict; ammunition was misplaced; 
some of the guns were off their carriages, ram- 
mers were missing; not a match was to be found 
on shipboard and only by means of a live coal 



12 ROBERT LUCAS 

from the ship's galley could a single return fire 
be made. 

After the hold of the Chesapeake had been 
perforated by the enemy and her masts and rig- 
ging broken and torn, her commander was forced 
to haul doAvn the -American flag and surrender 
to the British. The English commander did 
not accept the prize, but left the wreck to make 
its way, with every pump going to keep the wa- 
ter from the hold, back to Hampton Roads. 

The result of this outrage was an almost in- 
stantaneous outburst of excitement and indigna- 
tion from one end of the United States to the 
other. Mass meetings were called, resolutions 
Avere passed, proclamations issued; and conditions 
seemed ripe for an immediate war. 

President Jefferson sent a proclamation to 
England demanding an explanation and redress 
for the outrage and at the same time decided to 
call upon the Governors of the States for their 
quota of 100,000 militia, having in contempla- 
tion a wdnter campaign against Canada. In ac- 
cordance with this call Robert Lucas was, on 
August 1, 1807, ordered to take effectual meas- 
ures for detaching a company of fifty-four men 
from his regiment to make up part of the quota 
from the State of Ohio.^^ This company was to 
hold itself in readiness for immediate call to ac- 



MILITARY MATTERS 13 

live service and might be mustered eitlier by 
voluntary enlistment or by a draft. The prox- 
imity of the Canadian border made the need of 
precautionary measures apparent, and the enthu- 
siastic patriotism of the Ohio pioneers rendered 
a draft unnecessary. In a few days a volunteer 
company was organized which chose Robert Lu- 
cas as Captain, his commission as such from Act- 
ing Governor Thomas Kirker being dated Aug- 
ust 25, 1807. 

Great events in the life of Robert Lucas seem- 
ed to call out efforts at verse; and on this occa- 
sion, fired with patriotic enthusiasm, he com230sed 
a song of ^ve stanzas, in which he exhorted the 
heroes to march on to Canada and pull down the 
British standard, to follow the example of Wash- 
ington and redress the insults offered to Colum- 
bia's sons. He ends with the following senti- 
ment — perhaps more patriotic than poetic:^'-^ 

Tho sundry snares has oft been spread 
To catch our freedom from us 

All conspirators should be lead 
And hung upon the gallows. 

The song was sung on this occasion to the 
tune of Soldier\s Return; and under the inspira- 
tion, perhaps, of its martial strains the company 
drew up the following tender of their services to 
the President of the United States: 



14 ROBERT LUCAS 

To the honorable Thomas Kirker Esquire acting Gov- 
ernor of the State of Ohio: 

Sir: 

We the undersigners do hereby voluntarily 

enroll ourselves in a volunteer Company, to serve as 
such, on any Expedition the president of the United 
States may think proper to Call us to — In Conformity 
to an act of Congress in that case made and provided — 
and to abide the orders thereof, in such matters as is 
relative thereto, — in assisting to Expell all foreign and 
Domestic Envations and to defend the great wrights and 
Liberties, of a free and Independent Nation — respect- 
fully we are your Excellencies most obedient and very 
Humble Servants. 20 

Following this statement is the list of the sig- 
natures of the members of the company headed 
by the peculiar autograph of Robert Lucas as 
their commanding officer. This patriotism was 
commendable; but, as events transpired, it was a 
matter of over four years before the field of bat- 
tle actually required their service. 

Meanwhile the proclamation of Jefferson with 
his demands for reparation had reached England. 
After much beating about the bush the English 
ministry sent a commissioner, named George 
Henry Rose, to America to discuss the matter. 
Upon being received by Jefferson in January, 
1808, he assumed the attitude of one expecting 
an apology from the American administration 
for the demands they had made in the proclama- 



MILITARY MATTERS 15 

tion. Of course the negotiations came to naught, 
Kose returned to England, Jefferson swallowed 
the insult of the Chesapeake outrage as best he 
could and turned to the policy of an embargo. 
The administration meekly and cringingly ac- 
cepted the insults heaped upon it and plodded 
on in desparation until four years later it was 
forced into the war which it had striven so long 
to avoid. 



Ill 

Political Beginnings 

Military matters, however, did not keep Rob- 
ert Lucas out of civil office. As early as the 
16th of December, 1805, he was commissioned 
by Governor Tiffin a Justice of the Peace for 
Union Township, Scioto County, and on the fol- 
lowing day took the oath of office before Elijah 
Glover, another Justice of the Peace for Union 
Township who a few years later became Lucas's 
most bitter enemy. At this time an important 
function of "the Squire" was solemnizing the 
bonds of matrimony. Indeed, nearly all mar- 
riage ceremonies were performed by the Justice 
of the Peace — owing perhaps to the fact that 
the exponents of the law were much more in 
evidence than exponents of the gospel. 'No 
town could be long without its tavern; so in the 
town of Portsmouth at the mouth of the Scioto, 
a little man with a 23eppery temper and the sturdy 
name of John Brown opened the first tavern or 
hotel. It stood on the street fronting the Ohio, 
where the patrons might look out across the river 



POLITICAL BEGINNINGS 17 

and enjoy the beautiful scenery of tlie Kentucky 
liills beyond. It so happened that this landlord 
had two attractive daughters, Elizabeth and Ra- 
chel; and the records show that in 1806 llobert 
Lucas in his capacity as Justice of the Peace 
united in marriao:e William Kendall and Rachel 
Brown. The fact is interesting in the light of 
after events; for Robert Lucas four years later 
married the other daughter, Elizabeth, and made 
his home at the tavern, while William Kendall, 
his brother-in-law, became his most constant rival 
for political office. ^^ 

The 4th of July, 1808, is memorable for a great 
farmers' celebration held on the farm of Major 
Isaac Bonser near the mouth of the Little Scioto 
River. It was by no means a local gathering. 
From forty and fifty miles in every direction the 
crowds gathered. Some came across country in 
wagons, while others floated down the rivers in 
boats. JN'ot having a fieldpiece at hand they im- 
provised a cannon by boring out a log and band- 
ing it with iron. Their enterprise and effort 
were worthy of better results than followed; for 
this home made instrument of warfare burst dur- 
ing the firing. More successful, however, was 
the literary program. The speaker of the occa- 
sion was Robei't Lucas, who, after reading the 
Declaration of Independence, delivered an oration 
to the assembled crowd.^'- 



18 ROBERT LUCAS 

Whether or not this oration had any political 
significance we can only surmise; but in the fall 
of that same year Robert Lucas was elected by 
the people of Scioto County to represent them 
in the lower branch of the Ohio legislature. The 
session convened at Chillicothe on December 5, 
1808, and adjourned on February 21st of the 
next year. Lucas was appointed on a committee 
which had to do with the reo:ulation of fees of 
civil officers; and he seems to have performed 
his part satisfactorily in the session, although 
from the records in the Journal of the House he 
does not appear conspicuously prominent in the 
proceedings.^^ After the adjournment he re- 
sumed his private life and not until five years 
later does he again appear in the legislature of 
the State. 

An act, however, was passed by this session 
which was of a distinct interest to Robert Lucas. 
This was an act for disciplining the Militia of 
the State, which became a law February 14, 1809. 
It reorganized brigades and divisions so that the 
regiment from Scioto County, under the com- 
mand of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Lucas and 
formerly a part of the 1st Brigade was attached 
to the 2d Brigade, 2d Division. The law also 
provided that all officers holding commissions as 
Lieutenant Colonels should be commissioned as 



POLITICAL BEGINNINGS 19 

Colonels, so that Robert Lucas received a com- 
mission dated February 20, 1809, making him 
Colonel of the 1st Recfiment of the 2d Brigade 
of the 2nd Division of the Ohio Militia. 

Let us follow his military advancement one 
step further. Lucas had at this time a firm friend 
in the person of Duncan Mc Arthur, Major Gen- 
eral of the 2d Division. McArthur had been in 
the Senate the year Lucas was in the House, and 
as Senator his term of office extended over the 
following year. In February of 1810 he wrote 
to Lucas in regard to the latter' s candidates for 
Associate Judges of Scioto County — to be ap- 
pointed by the legislature — and closed his letter 
with an expression of his regret at the ' ' loss of 
that social enjoyment which 1 experienced last 
session in the representative from Scioto." In 
July of the same year McArthur informed Lucas 
that by the resignation of Jeremiah McLene, 
Brigadier General of the 2d Brigade, the duties 
of that officer would devolve upon Lucas until a 
Brigadier General could be elected and qualified. '^ 
While no pi'oof in the way of a commission has 
been found to show that such election resulted 
in the choice of Robert Lucas, yet the fact is evi- 
denced by the letters of Major General McAr- 
thur, addressed in the following year, to General 
Lucas^ and by a letter from Lucas to the Secre- 



20 ROBERT LUCAS 

tary of War at Washington, which he wrote in 
1811 and signed: 

Robert Lucas, Brigadier General, 
2d Brigade, 2nd Division of Ohio Militia. 

Life in a frontier country is fraught with many 
drawbacks and disadvantages. Here the tempta- 
tions to lawlessness are great and constant. The 
spirited temperament that is fostered by the dan- 
gers and hardships of such a life is not a tem. 
perament that lends itself easily to restraint or 
check. Journeying with the westward move- 
ment of the border, living in an atmosphere of 
excessive freedom and intensity, men were de- 
veloped in whom energy and vigor rather than 
self-restraint were the prominent characteristics. 
Men of the frontier breathing daily the freshness 
of unrestrained freedom and ever courageously 
facing the dangers of the wilderness did not al- 
ways possess that sense of order and control of 
self which gives poise and character to life. This 
is not true of all, but it is the case with a large 
number. It was so especially with many of the 
early settlers of Ohio and the Territory of the 
Northwest. 

Robert Lucas inherited from his father, in spite 
of his Quaker antecedents, an intense military 
spirit. Brought up on the border line of Vir- 
ginia, in a slave-holding family, he imbibed the 



POLITICAL BEGINNINGS 21 

high-striiiig temperament of the Virginian. Mov- 
ing from there to a still newer country before 
maturity had brought him wiser consideration, 
and thrown with others of a kindred mould, the 
result was but natural that he should have been 
in the days of his early manhood one whose 
rugged self-assertion had in it more than a tinge 
of recklessness. Because of this prevalent ten- 
dency in the early communities of Ohio, the 
county Sheriff was a personage of no mean im- 
portance and of no infrequent duties. Indeed, 
among the best of families and the most promi- 
nent persons of the community arrests were not 
of unusual occurrence. 

And so it is not a matter of surprise that in 
1810 a suit was brought against Robert Lucas. 
The Sheriff of Scioto County attempted to take 
him into custody. Lucas, however, was not one 
to submit tamely to arrest, and successfully re- 
sisted the officers of the law. He was a formid- 
able and determined man, a prominent officer of 
the militia, and with many friends in the com- 
munity. The Sheriff, rather than endanger his 
life, resigned his office. His duties then devolv- 
ing upon the Coroner, he also resigned. Then 
Lucas swore vengeance upon the Clerk who had 
issued the writ, and he too resigned. 

The situation was an interesting one — a re- 



22 ROBERT LUCAS 

fractory militia-man defying the laws, and seem- 
ingly no one with courage enough to execute 
them. But at this j uncture a young school teacher 
named John R. Turner appeared, and agreed, if 
made Clerk, to issue the writ. At the same time 
Elijah Glover undertook the responsibility of 
making the arrest if appointed Sheriff. These 
two — John R. Turner and Elijah Glover — re- 
ceived the appointments. The writ was issued; 
and Glover, reinforced by his brother Nathan 
and three others as a posse comitatus, proceeded 
boldly up the street of Portsmouth in the per- 
formance of his new found duty. 

Early in the year Robert Lucas had married 
Elizabeth Brown, the daughter of John Brown 
the tavern keeper, and was himself at this time 
living at the tavern. Accounts differ as to his 
reception of his visitors, some claiming that he 
made no resistance, while Glover himself, some 
years later, says that he met Avitb resistance in 
the shape of a billet of wood. However that 
may be, the arrest was accomplished and the pro- 
cession started for the jail. 

But John Brown, though insignificant in stat- 
ure, was a man of fiery disposition. In his wrath 
he followed them from his tavern and made some 
demonstration as if to rescue his son-in-law from 
the long arm of justice. But he reckoned with- 



POLITICAL BEGINNINGS 23 

out liis host ; for Nathan Glover, a man of enor- 
mous frame, picked the little man up bodily and 
rudely threw him into a clump of jimson weed. 
No more resistance came from the father-in-law.^-^ 
Lucas, lodged in jail, was restless, and the mili- 
tia seemed to him to offer a loophole for escape. 
To various officers he wrote letters or orders, look- 
ing toward a forcible release of their unfortunate 
commander. Eighteen years later, in a senatorial 
campaign between Lucas and Kendall, the follow- 
ing was printed in the Western Tlmes^ as a copy 
of one of these letters: 

Portsmouth, Sep 15, 1810 26 
Captain Lindsay: — You are requested to attind at Ports- 
mouth immediately, armed and as many of your neigh- 
bors as are willing to support the Constitution, as the 
revolutionist party has, by violence fourced me into 
prison. If you respect the constitution of your country, 
which you are sworn to support, you will attind imme- 
diately and defend your constitutional officers. 

You will pleas attend at Mr. Brown's as soon as pos- 
sible, as there will doubtless be a number in town by 
that time that will unite with you in supporting the 
constitution of the State. I am with every sentiment 
of respect, your obedient and very humble servant 

Robert Lucas. 
Capt. John M. Lixdsay. 

On the fold of the letter was the following en- 
dorsement: 



24 ROBERT LUCAS 



Elijali Glover | 


> The dam 


Nathan Glover j 


> raskels 


Nimrod Hogue j 


1 that 


Alexander McClane ] 


[ mobbed 


John H. Thornton ] 


J me 



The Sheriff, however, quelled any attempt at 
jail breaking and Lucas paid the penalty of the 
law. From this time on, the Lucas and Glover 
families were in a state of feud, constant arrests 
and law-suits taking place for years. ^" 

On April 4, 1810, Lucas had married Elizabeth 
Brown and since that time had made his home 
at the inn of his father-in-law. In 1811 a daugh- 
ter, Minerva, was born to them. This daughter 
grew to womanhood and married Mr. Horatio 
N. Sumner, a younger brother of Lucas's second 
wife. Friendly Sumner. Robert Lucas became, 
therefore, the brother-in-law of his own son-in- 
law. At the tavern he seems to have turned his 
attention to mechanical pursuits and amused him- 
self, as tradition relates, by experimenting with 
the construction of a perpetual motion machine 
which greatly excited the curiosity of the people 
of Portsmouth and was a point of interest to 
which all visitors in the town were referred. ^^ 



IV 

The War of 1812 

KoBERT Lucas was no less a soldier tlian he was 
a pioneer. Away back in tlie days of the Cav- 
aliers and Roundheads an ancestor had fought 
under the standard of Oliver Cromwell; and, in 
the generations that followed, the heritage of 
military talent had not been lost. The War of 
1812 found Lucas in his thirty-second year and a 
Brigadier General in the militia of a State which 
from its geographical position was sure to assume 
a prominent part in the coming hostilities. 

It is not necessary to detail the events leading 
to the second war for American independence. 
In the five years preceding 1812 the Adminis- 
tration had exhausted every expedient known to 
its diplomacy and had suffered countless insults 
from both Eno^land and France in an effort to 
avoid war. For over four years the Chesapeake 
outrage had passed without reparation. The in- 
terference with neutral trade in American vessels 
had been unremitting; and the impressment of 
American seamen by British commanders had 
been continued on a constantly increasing scale. 



26 ROBERT LUCAS 

The Congress that convened in November, 
1811, was strongly Republican in both houses, 
and the infusion of new members made a distinct 
change in its attitude toward the war. Young 
men like John C. Calhoun, William Lowndes, 
and Langdon Cheves gave an aggressive charac- 
ter to the whole body of legislators. Under the 
leadership of Henry Clay, who was chosen speak- 
er of the House, a declaration of war seemed al- 
most a foregone conclusion. The President's 
message rang with a more warlike tone, and de- 
bate on measures looking to preparations for a 
conflict at once began. On January 11, 1812, a 
bill was passed increasing the regular army to 
twenty-five thousand, and on February 6th the 
President was authorized to receive volunteers 
from the State militias to the number of fifty 
thousand. An invasion of Canada was of course 
the object for which these warlike preparations 
were being made. 

Out in the Northwest, meanwhile, affairs were 
assuming a critical aspect. For years the British 
traders across the Canadian line had been heap- 
ing presents at the feet of the Indian warriors 
and encouraging and abetting them in their efforts 
to unite all the tribes into a confederation under 
Tecumseh. Smarting under the blow inflicted 
at Tippecanoe by General William Henry Har- 



THE WAR OF 1812 27 

rison in 1811, the Red Men embraced the op- 
portunity to make common cause with the Eng- 
lish and to widen their confederation among 
neighboring tribes. Their fiercely eager desire 
to fall at once upon the Americans was, however, 
curbed by the traders, who, not without some 
difficulty, held them in leash until a more oppor- 
tune time.-^ 

Notwithstanding the protestations of peace 
made by the wily Tecumseh, the settlers of the 
Northwest generally understood and appreciated 
the situation, and already in the early months of 
1812 held themselves in readiness for instant de- 
fense. In April, isolated murders were com- 
mitted by Indian bands, followed by symptoms 
of panic among the inhabitants of Indiana and 
the western border line of Ohio. It was in this 
same month of April that Congress authorized 
the President to call out one hundred thousand 
State militia and that Return Jonathan Meigs, 
Governor of Ohio, took immediate measures to 
raise the quota of volunteers apportioned to his 
State. 

Robert Lucas was then Brio^adier General of 
the 2d Brigade of the 2d Division of the Ohio 
Militia. Accordingly, in April he received or- 
ders through his friend. Major General Duncan 
McArthur (at that time commanding the 2d 



28 ROBERT LUCAS 

Division) to transmit without delay from liis bri- 
gade its proportion of the twelve hundred men 
required of the State. The volunteers were to 
be organized to march immediately to Detroit. 
These orders placed Lucas in a rather peculiar 
position. For some time he had been desirous 
of entering the United States Army; and mainly 
through the efforts of General McArthur and 
Alexander Campbell, United States Senator from 
Ohio, he had received a commission as Captain 
in the 19th United States Infantry. This office 
he had accepted only a few days before receiv- 
ing the brigade orders. Moreover, he had not 
yet received orders of an assignment as a United 
States Army officer. After some deliberation 
he concluded that the urgency of the call for 
volunteers necessitated his attending to his du- 
ties as Brigadier General; and so without delay 
he set about recruiting volunteer companies from 
his brigade. 

At this point, April 25th, Lucas began an ex- 
ceedingly interesting daily journal which he car- 
ried with him throughout the Hull campaign and 
to which constant reference has been made for 
the facts herein given.^^ The board covers of 
this unique record are broken, and the pages are 
yellow with age ; but despite its almost one hun- 
dred years the writing is as legible as ever and 



THE WAR OF 1812 29 

tells a story of wonderful interest to the student 
of American history. 

In Portsmouth, Lucas began his recruiting; 
and gathering together two companies — a volun- 
teer company and a rifle company — from Scioto 
County, he started on his march northward. 
David Rupe had been chosen Captain of the rifle 
company; and on the morning of the 29th of 
April the volunteer company held an election 
and chose as their Captain, John Lucas, a young- 
er brother of Robert. That night they encamp- 
ed at Chillicothe, and spent the next day getting 
together camp kettles, wagons, and other sup- 
plies for the trip to Dayton, the place of their 
rendezvous. When, after a four days' march, 
they reached Dayton, they found the town rap- 
idly filling up with the gathering volunteers. 
Three other companies of Lucas's brigade were 
there. These, with the two companies which he 
had brought from Scioto County, he proceeded 
to organize into a battalion which chose James 
Denny as its Major. A battalion was also or- 
ganized from the other brigade with Major Wil- 
liam A. Trimble as commanding officer. ^^ At 
the same time Duncan McArthur was unani- 
mously chosen Colonel of the volunteer regi- 
ment thus formed from his division. 

Two other volunteer regiments were organized 



30 ROBERT LUCAS 

at this time under Colonels Lewis Cass andJames 
Findlay. Before starting for Detroit the Oliio 
volunteers were joined by Lieutenant Colonel 
James Miller and liis veteran 4tli Regiment of 
regulars from Port Yincennes. 

Robert Lucas could undoubtedly have had the 
command of the battalion recruited from his bri- 
gade if he had so desired; but, in order to encour- 
age enlistments at the start, he had volunteered 
as a private in his brother's company.^^ His po- 
sition was certainly unique. At one and the 
same time he was Captain in the United States 
army, a Brigadier General in the Ohio Militia ^ 
and a private in a volunteer company. And in 
addition the records show that he was constant- 
ly performing the independent duties of scout, 
guide, exj)ress messenger, and staff officer. 

On May 8, 1812, — news having come to Day- 
ton of some Indian murders on the western bor- 
der line of the State of Ohio — Lucas was re- 
quested to go to Greenville with Captain Rupe 
and thirty of his men and ascertain the condition 
of affairs. ^^ They found the settlers on the Still- 
water Creek greatly alarmed, building block 
houses, and abandoning their farms. Here and 
there they found traces of Indian ambushes. But 
the alarm seemed greatly out of proportion to the 
cause, and so on the fourteenth they returned to 



THE WAR OF 1812 31 

Dayton. On the following day Lucas made his 
report to the Governor of Ohio. 

In a frontier campaign of this nature there was 
great need of competent men to perform inde- 
pendent services; and Governor Meigs fully ap- 
preciated the value of Lucas to the army. It may 
have been that, having fulfilled his duty as re- 
gards the organization of his troops, Lucas was 
now meditating upon his captaincy in the United 
States Army. At all events the Governor re- 
quested him to stay with the volunteers, and 
promised to write to the Secretary of War in his 
behalf. Upon the assurance that he should lose 
neither rank nor emolument as a United States 
Army officer, Lucas consented to remain with 
the Ohio Militia. 

The next few days were spent in assisting in 
the discipline of the officers. His duties were 
now varied and interesting. For the twenti- 
eth of May, his journal records the single state- 
ment: 'Mone my duty with the army." One 
night a noise like turkey calling was heard and 
the apprehensive camp immediately suspected 
the presence of Indians. When night came on 
again Robert Lucas and Samuel Herd lay in the 
bushes outside the camp, but discovered nothing. 

On the day that followed, which was the 23d 
of May, 1812, GeneranVilliam Hull arrived and 



32 ROBERT LUCAS 

reviewed the army. It was then and there that 
the famous Hull campaign began which ended 
so ignominiously less than three months later. 
The coming of Hull brought a new duty to Lu- 
cas. The General desired an express to start 
immediately for Detroit with despatches to Act- 
ing Governor Reuben Atwater at Detroit and 
with addresses to the Indians of northern Ohio. 
Upon the suggestion of Governor Meigs, Robert 
Lucas was selected to perform this important 
task. 

Waiting but to witness the transfer of the 
command of the army to General Hull, Lucas 
started on his journey on the 25th of May ac- 
companied only by William Denny. It was a 
long and arduous journey that lay before them 
and one by no means free from dangers. Hun- 
dreds of miles of very sparsely settled country 
stretched between them and the far-away Detroit. 
Vast reaches of wilderness and mile after mile 
of swamp must be traversed. Nor were their 
minds, as they traveled by day or lay by the camp 
fire at night, free from the terrible thought of 
Indian bands turned hostile by English intrigues. 

This was not an idle fear. As they passed the 
head of Darby, and before they had even reached 
Delaware, they found the inhabitants in a state 
of alarm. At Delaware it was with great diffi- 



THE WAR OF 1812 33 

culty that they discovered a man with sufficient 
valor to accompany them to Lower Sandusky 
and return with despatches. As they proceeded 
northward they found the inhabitants stockading 
their houses or abandoning their homes. Ar- 
riving at Upper Sandusky, they secured an in- 
terpreter who gathered together the Indian chiefs 
of the neighborhood at Negro Town. Here 
Lucas read to them the message from General 
Hull, which was addressed to the Wyandots, 
Delawares, Miamis, Ottawas, Pottawattomies, 
Chippewas, and Shawnees: — Long had he lived 
amongst them, and long had smoked the pipe of 
peace and friendship with them. The great 
Father of the nation carried in one hand the 
olive branch of peace, and in the other a sword; 
those of them that accepted the one should enjoy 
protection, peace, and happiness, and those that 
preferred the other should experience all the 
punishment his powerful hands could inflict. 
The present was a most awful crisis; everything 
dear to them was at stake. Should they commit 
acts of hostility they would forfeit their lands, 
their annuities, and their very existence among 
the white people. 

In this tenor he continued his address, prom- 
ising them, in case they remained true to the 
existing treaties, all the blessings a bountiful 
3 



34 ROBERT LUCAS 

country could bestow. He closed witti the as- 
surance that the white people sincerely wished 
to live at peace with their red brethren. In 
general the Indians seemed well pleased at the 
message of their father, General Hull, and dis- 
claimed any hostile intentions. 

Lucas and Denny pushed on toward the north 
again. For a dollar they hired an Indian to 
ferry them across the high waters of the Tym- 
ochte in a canoe. On the 29th of May they ar- 
rived at Lower Sandusky where they delivered 
despatches to Mr. Varnum, the United States 
Factor at that place. Here also a council was 
held with the Wyandots and Miamis, in which 
the former seemed friendly, but not so the latter. 

After leaving Lower Sandusky they struggled 
through "a tremendious Swamp of 40 m[i]l[e]s 
distanc[e]", swam the Miami of the Lake^^ and 
pushed on to the Eiver Raisin. Here Denny's 
horse gave out. Lucas, however, went on with 
Mr. Beard (the contractor at Detroit), reaching 
the end of his journey about four o'clock in the 
afternoon of the second day of June. 

Lucas lost no time in delivering his messages, 
and was treated with great hospitality by the 
officers at Detroit. The next two weeks passed 
very pleasantly after his arduous journey. He 
stayed at the home of Captain Hickman, a son- 



THE WAR OF 1812 35 

in-law of General Hull, and spent the time in 
making himself acquainted with the city of De- 
troit and its vicinity. At that time Detroit was 
the point which marked the western flank of 
settlement in both Canada and the United States, 
and the winding water line between there and 
Nova Scotia was sure to be the scene of conflict 
in the coming war. The plan of campaign on 
the part of the United States was to push the 
conquest of Canada from Detroit and from Buf- 
falo and sweep the Canadian frontier from west 
to east. It was an excellent plan; but it was 
most miserably executed. 

Lucas, as he looked across at the Canadian 
border early in June, must have seen the difii- 
culties that faced the army. A few miles down 
the river at Maiden the British forces lay wait- 
ing. One day Lucas descended the river in a 
canoe to within a mile of the garrison and 
watched the Queen Charlotte (a twenty gun ship) 
amve with Governor Brock^^ and reinforcements 
of a hundred British troops. Two days later 
(June 16th) having received word from General 
Hull, he started back through the wilderness 
with an interpreter to meet the troops and lead 
them to Detroit. 

Sometimes Lucas and his companion journeyed 
mile after mile in torrents of rain. Again they 



36 ROBERT LUCAS 

encamped and let the horses graze while they 
picked strawberries. Fifteen canoe loads of In- 
dians passed them going to Maiden. Rumors 
came to them of w^ar parties of Pottawattomies; 
and all one night, thinking themselves surround- 
ed by hostile Indians, they deserted their camp 
fire and lay in the bushes fighting mosquitoes 
and gnats. Pursuing their way through Round 
Heads Town and Solomons Town they finally 
reached the army at Camp Necessity where they 
reported to General Hull. Here Lucas records 
the following characteristic entry in his journal: 
^'Invited to remain in the general's family but 
seeing so many fops and so much parade and no 
action among them, I Chose to attach myself 
to Gnl McArthurs Regiment, return[e]d and 
lodged with Gnl Mc Arthur— " 

The army now numbered, according to Hull's 
own statement, over two thousand men.^^ On 
June 24th, it resumed the march cutting the 
road as it went, with Lucas usually in the lead 
performing the varying duties of scout, guide 
and picket. After a somewhat eventful journey 
they reached the rapids of the Miami of the 
Lake on the twenty-ninth of June. Here Hull 
committed a fatal mistake. Securing a small 
schooner at the mouth of the river, he shipped 
part of the baggage and all of his valuable mill- 



THE WAR OF 1812 37 

tary papers by way of Lake Erie to Detroit, un- 
aware of the fact that nearly two weeks before, 
the Congress at Washington had declared war 
against England. Of course the schooner was 
captured by the English.^^^ The Department of 
War was certainly to blame for his failure to re- 
ceive notice of that vital decision; yet censure 
cannot be avoided by a General who would en- 
trust his military papers to an unprotected 
schooner and expect them to cross in safety a 
lake which he knew and acknowledged to be in 
control of the vessels of a country with which 
his nation was on the verge of war. 

From the mouth of the Miami of the Lake to 
Detroit the army marched through the mud and 
water of the wretched pioneer roads in constant 
fear of attack from the hostile Indians and bom- 
bardment from the British on the Canadian 
shore. It was about four o'clock on the after- 
noon of July 5th that the army came within 
sight of Detroit and encamped at Spring WelP^ 
on the bank of the river, three miles below the 
town. Across on the Canadian side lay the little 
village of Sandwich. Against this point the first 
move in the conquest of Canada was directed. 



The Invasion of Canada 

General Hull made Ms plans to cross tlie river 
on Friday night, the lOth of July; but the un- 
dertaking was delayed until the dawn of the 
12th.^^ On Saturday night there had been some 
insubordination among parts of the Ohio volun- 
teers, and Captain Rupe's company had refused 
to cross. When the Sabbath dawned, however, 
and the army embarked for the Canadian shore, 
fifteen members of the mutinous company joined 
the ranks of their regiment and went over with 
the invading army. Lucas tells of the landing 
in these words: "Colo Cass and the 4th regular 
Regmt was to cross first I could not endure to 
be behind. I asked permission of Colo Cass and 
crossed with him and was among the first that 
landed in Can[a]da. We made our landing good 
and formed an encampm[e]nt opposite Detroit 
and raised the American flag without there even 
being a gun fired at us, — " 

General Hull immediately issued a proclama- 
tion (under date of July 12th) to the inhabitants 



THE INVASION OF CANADA 39 

of Canada.*^ He offered them safety and peace 
if tbey remained neutral; he agreed to accept 
their services if voluntarily tendered. But he 
assured them that if they joined the Bntish the 
horrors and calamities of war would stalk before 
them, and he promised to make it a war of ex- 
termination if the savages were let loose upon 
the war path. "Had I any doubt of eventual 
success", he declared, "I might ask your assist- 
ance but I do not. I come prepared for every 
Contingency. I have a force which look down 
all opposition and that force is but the van- guard 

of a much greater The first stroke with 

the Tomahawk, the first attempt with the scalp- 
ing Knife, will be the signal of one indiscrimi- 
nate scene of desolation. No White man found 
fighting by the side of an Indian will he tahen 
prisoner Instant destruction will be his lot." 

These words certainly had the ring of energy 
and determination; but they were not followed 
by deeds correspondingly decisive. Hull called 
a council of war which decided against the attack 
upon Maiden and advised delay. Perhaps the 
reasons for not storming the town were good; 
but delay was certainly a poor expedient for the 
American army. If a blow was to be struck at 
all, the sooner it was done the better were its 
chances for success. Every day brought rein- 



40 ROBERT LUCAS 

forcements to the British army. Hull's procla- 
mation to the iahabitants of Canada, while it 
brought some deserters into the American camp, 
so alarmed the British that immediate steps 
were taken to concentrate a large army on the 
western frontier; and the magnificent energy of 
General Brock of the British forces overcame in 
a few weeks obstacles perhaps greater than those 
which confronted the more vacillating Hull.^^ 

For weeks the American army lay in camp 
at Sandwich without any concerted action. Oc- 
casionally troops were detached to make a sally 
here and there, and often skirmishes occurred; 
but never was action followed up vigorously by 
a large enough force to be effective. Very soon 
the troops became restless and murmuring began. 

During this time Lucas was by no means idle. 
Conducting reconnoitering trips, ascertaining 
the grounds of Indian alarms, and attending the 
picket guards, he was constantly in the place of 
the most active service. On the night of July 
14th Mc Arthur led a party of troops on an ex- 
pedition to seize supplies, and Lucas in his jour- 
nal mourns the fact that he did not go with 
them. July 16th, according to the journal, was 
a busy day. Colonels Cass and Miller obtained 
permission to capture the bridge over the river 
Aux Canards, within three miles of Maiden. 



THE INVASION OF CANADA 41 

Down across Turkey Creek they went, two hun- 
dred strong, with Lucas and a few rangers in 
front of the advance guard. As they approach- 
ed, they found the bridge fortified by a field- 
piece and defended by both British and Indians. 
Here they divided. Leaving a force to advance 
openly upon the bridge, Lucas went with an- 
other party up stream and crossed. " We as- 
sended the river", he says, "about 5 or 6 miles 
(piloted by two frenchmen that we made go 
with us) crossed the river (myself, Wm Stock- 
ton and Saml Herd being the first ther[e] and 
advanced on a rise and kept a lookout while the 
others crossed) We De[s]cended on the oppo- 
site side through a tremendous thicket of Bush- 
es and Prickly ash swamps till we came in Sight 
of the Bridge." 

By this time the other division had reached 
the bridge, the defenders of which found them- 
selves menaced from both quarters. The fight 
was immediately on in earnest, the British and 
Indians generally retreating. "A party of Bifle- 
men", writes Lucas, "was directed to take the 
woods, they appeared Backward Supposing a 
body of Indians lay therein. But Capt [ ]* 

myself and Denton Scott rushed into 

the woods and was followed bravely by Capt 

*The name is omitted in the original manuscript. 



42 ROBERT LUCAS 

Ullerys Compa[n]y and part of Capt Eob[in]- 
sons we ran through the point of woods to 
where the British and Indians had been encamp- 
ed, by this time our troops that was across the 
riv[e]r Joined us, we fired upon them from the 
woods, being about 200 yards distan[t] being the 
nearest we could get to them, they retreated in 
Such hast[e] that we Could not Come up with 
them, by this time it began to get dark in the 
evening, we returned not having one man in- 
jured, we left a guard at the Bridge and returned 
about 1 or 2 miles to Some houses and Barnes 
and encamped." 

The next morning Lucas crossed over the 
bridge in company with Colonel Cass and others 
and advanced some distance toward Maiden. 
Upon their return the officers held a council up- 
on the wisdom of holding the bridge. Colonel 
Cass vehemently protested against evacuating a 
position once gained, especially since the bridge 
was the only obstacle between Sandwich and 
Maiden. He was overruled, however, and the 
bridge was abandoned, much to the disgust of 
Lucas, who wrote that "This was a bad manner 
to fateegue men to take the Bridge and give it 
up as we fo[u]nd it." 

The humor of a little incident that took place 
seems to have mollified him somewhat. ' ^ One 



THE INVASION OF CANADA 43 

of the Britisli Soldi[e]rs that was wounded was 
brought up a prisoner with us, the oth[e]r con- 
sidered mortally wounded, was left, he died the 
same day the Indians Came and scalped him and 
sold his scalp to the British a good trick for an 
indian to make the British Gov. pay for their 
own Soldiers Scalps." 

The British immediately took advantage of 
the evacuation of the bridge by cutting away the 
sills and erecting a breastwork of timber on the 
south side of the stream. For days there was 
skirmishing at the bridge. On the twentieth 
of July Lucas ends the day's account with the 
words: ''We all returned to Camp in Safety, but 
much fateeguied and very Hungary being nearly 
two days without much to eat — There appears 
to be a mistery in these proceedings, if the bridge 
was wo[r]th contending for, why did we not keep 
it when we had it, if it is not an object why fa- 
teegue troops in sending them to it 15 m[i]l[e]s 
from camp. I fear that these proceed[i]ngs will 
prove injurious to us — " 

As days went by, the restlessness of the army 
increased. On the twenty-third, Lucas records 
that "report said that 50 Indians was on yester- 
day Several miles above the bridge in Com- 
pa[n]y with a merchant from Sandwich — also 
that the proph[e]t had ar[r]ived at Maldon with 



44 ROBERT LUCAS 

a reinforcement of Indians (Why does tlie ar- 
my dally, why do they not make the Stroke on 
Maldon at once, had proper energy been used 
we might have been in Maldon now, we are tam- 
pering with them untill they will be able to drive 

lis back across the river had the Bridge 

been kept when we had it, untill the whole army 
was prepared to march all would have been 
well—" 

Thus the last days of July and the first of 
August wore away — days of alternate explora- 
tion and skirmishing, with nights of weary watch 
and sudden alarm. By the fourth of August 
parties of the British and their savage allies not 
only had passed over the Eiver Canards, but 
had crossed Turkey Creek and advanced to with- 
in four miles of the American camp at Sandwich. 

On the day following, Lucas started on an ex- 
pedition (under Major Van Home) back across 
the Detroit River and down to the Eiver Raisin 
to escort the mail and meet Captain Brush, who 
had arrived at that point with reinforcements 
and provisions for Hull's army. At daybreak 
they crossed the river. It was a beautiful morn- 
ing when they landed on the American side; but 
it inaugurated an ill-fated expedition. They 
passed through the evacuated Indian town of 
Maguawga and, in the words of Lucas, '^proceed- 



THE INVASION OF CANADA 45 

ed on with great care to a place known by the 
name of the Big-Appletree Capt McCoUoch and 
myself was then together, the Capt alighted from 
his horse; and I proceeded on, the roads forked 
one round the right of an Indian Cornfield and the 
other on the left .... unfortunately for Capt 
McColloch he took the left hand road round the 
field he was accompanied by a Black man waiter 
to Major Van home, they was fired upon by 12 
or 14 Indians, as Soon as we heard the report 
of the guns I exclaim[ed] that McColloch was 
fired upon and requested the men in front to 
form a line across to the riv[e]r and to advanc[e] 
to the place where the fire was being about 150 
yards in the rear of us and between the main 
body and the river, we don[e] so in front and had 
the rear performed the Same maneuvor we might 
have killed all the Indian[s], the rear g[u]ard at 
the fire was thrown into Confusion, the Indi[a]ns 
scalped and tom[a]hawked McCollo[c]h ran across 
the Cornfield and fired upon the rear g[u]ard and 
made the[i]r escape without being hurt". 

This was only the beginning of misfortunes. 
As they went on towards the River Raisin, they 
were warned by a Frenchman of an ambush of 
Indians near Brownstown. But the French had 
cried ''Wolf! wolf!" so often that the men dis- 
regarded the caution and walked open-eyed into 



46 ROBERT LUCAS 

the trap. With the mail between the columns, 
they marched on four or five miles till they came 
to a defile near Brown stown through which they 
had to pass. "As we approached the defile", 
wrote Lucas, "I rode along the right colum[n] 
and requested of the men to see that their guns 
were fresh primed assuij^ijng them that their 
Safety depended on on their arms and their 
Valur and pointing out the place told them that 
if we met an enemy at all that day that it would 
be there, the road here passes through a narrow 
parari Surrounded on the right by a Mirey 
Creeck which cannot be crossed but at the one 
place for Some distan[ce] up and on the oppo- 
site Side Covered with thick Bushes, on the left 
flank was a n[u]mb[e]r of small Indian Cornfields 
and thickets of Bushes, the Indians lay in the 
Bushes on the opposite Side of the Creek from 
us immediately on the bank in our front and 
right flank and in the Cornfields on the left flank, 
the flank had to close at this place in ord[e]r to 
Cross the Creek within 40 or 50 yards of each 
other, as soon as I had Cautioned the right flank 
I rode up in front betwe[e]n the lines to Major 
yanhorn[e], in compa[ny] with Wm Stockton 
the hors[e]men on the flanks was just entering 
the Creek and myself Major Vanhorn[e] and Wm 
Stockton was of a breast in front between the 



THE INVASION OF CANADA 47 

lines, and had advanced within 25 or 30 yards of 
the Indians when we was fired upon, the first fire 
appeared to be principally directed at us that 
was a hors[e]back. My Horse and Wm Stock- 
ton's was shot mine wheeled and gave a fierce 
lunge and pi[t]ched against a horse that had 
his fore leg broke and pi[t]ched me of[fJ in the 
fall my gun flew out of my hand I raised and 
looked round for my gun but not Seeing it, and 
Seeing the Indians rushing out of the Bushes 
in front and a heavy fire from them at me on 
the left I ran into the ranks of Capt Barrens 
Compa[n]y without my gun and requested them 
to form and fire upon the Indians which they 
did at the first fire Mr Fowler and Sev[e]ral 
otheij^s] was kil[l]ed, the fire Soon was gen[e]ral 
on both Sides, and finding ourselves overpow- 
ered and likely to be Surrounded the major or- 
dered a retreat, we retreated in as good order 
as we possibly could from our situation, halting 
and firing upon the en[e]my where occation 
would admit ". 

Back the troops went to Detroit and across 
to Sandwich again with their object unaccom- 
plished. Seventeen men had been killed and 
several wounded. Colonels Cass and McArthur 
asked permission to take a detachment of troops 
back and bury the dead; but General Hull pos- 
itively refused to grant their request. 



VI 

The Surrender of Detroit 

The seventh of August, 1812, was a day of 
bitter disappointment to tlie army. It marked 
nothing less than the giving up of all the hopes 
of a Canadian conquest and an ignominious re- 
treat to Detroit. Lucas, on that day, graphically 
records the movement as follows: "This morn- 
ing Genl orders issued for the army to draw 5 
days provision to have three days cooked and 
prepare themsel[v]es against the next morning 
to take the field against the en[e]my. Major 
Den[n]y was directed to stay in the fort at Gow- 
ris with 150 Men but by Solicitation Capt Cook 
of the 4*^ Regt was allowed to stay with him those 
that was to Stay in the fort was the Conveles- 
sent that was not able to take the field, the ex- 
pected attack was on Maldon every Countenance 
was cheered and their spirits raised with the 
prospect of having liberty to act in Defence of 
their Countary, but to the[i]r great supprise and 
dissatisfaction in the dusk of the evening the 
Orders for taking the field was Comprimanded 



THE SURRENDER OF DETROIT 49 

and the army was ordered to recross the Detroit 
River to detroit after night, which was done, or 
at least as many as Could be Crossed till day- 
light, (and from this time will be recorded the 
Dastardly evacuation of Sandwich by Gnl Hull 
Contrary to the general wish of all his troops)" 
And so, after four weeks of futile delay, with- 
out making one concerted attack upon the ene- 
my, Hull and the army which he boasted would 
"look down all opposition" crept back under 
cover of the night across the river to American 
soil and encamped near the fort behind the 
town of Detroit. He had crossed the river a 
month before with a united army loyal to his 
command and praying only for the opportunity 
to sweep down upon the enemy with the energy 
and courage of western ways. He led back to 
Detroit a sullen and rebellious army, destitute of 
all respect for its General and ready to support 
its Colonels in deposing him from the command. 
He had proclaimed great things; but his procla- 
mation had become the laughing-stock of the 
British army. He had gained absolutely noth- 
ing; yet he had lost quantities of provisions, 
weeks of time, and scores of human lives. Most 
dangerous of all, he had shown to General Brock 
the fatal weakness of a vacillating temperament. 
The end of his blunders had not yet come. 



50 ROBERT LUCAS 

In the meantime, down at the River Raisin, 
Captain Brush with his reinforcements and pro- 
visions was still waiting for an escort. On Sat- 
urday, August 8th, Colonel Miller was sent out 
with a force of six hundred fifty men to bring 
him into camp. Near Maguawga they met the 
Indians and British who had crossed the river to 
intercept communication. A stubborn battle 
was fought, resulting in the retreat of the enemy 
and a decisive victory for Colonel Miller. Great- 
ly encouraged by this good fortune, a despatch 
was immediately sent to General Hull asking for 
provisions and support in following up the ad- 
vantage. The General, however, refused; and on 
the eleventh Lucas, stirred with wrath, recorded 
these words: "It is stated that Colo Miller is 
ordered back to Detroit, without accomplish- 
ing the object for which he started, and for 
which the lives of many valuable men have been 
lost — !!! My God what proceedings — " The 
next day he talked with Mr. Beard — the con- 
tractor at Detroit and a friend of General Hull. 
Convinced from this conversation that the Gen- 
eral was contemplating the surrender of the ar- 
my, he sat down and wrote to his brother-in-law 
(William Kendall of Portsmouth) a long des- 
pairing letter concerning the condition of the 
army and its commander. ^^ 



THE SURRENDER OF DETROIT 51 

The week went by witli inaction in the Amer- 
ican camp and a growing feeling of mutiny and 
rage toward the inefficient General; while with 
the British force across the river there were signs 
of the greatest energy and vigor. Exasperated 
and indignant, Lucas continued each day to give 
more vent to his feelings. On Thursday the 
thirteenth he wrote: "The British have taken 
possession of the Bank opposite Detroit and have 
commenced erecting a Battery, opposite the town. 
Lieu^s Anderson and Dallaby each threw up a 
Battery on our side one in the old Public Garden 
and the other Just below the town, — The British 
is suffered to work at their batterys undisturbed 
and perhaps will Soon Commence firing upon 
the Town (Why in the name of God are they 
not routed before they compleet their Battery) 
This afternoon Colo Finley with a Detachm[en]t 
was ordered to prepare to march on a Detachment 
up the river. They prepared and waited for 
orders application was made and the Gnl was 
found asleep he could not be disturbed, therefore 
the Detachment had to remain in camp till the 
next day, — he probably had been taking a little 
Wine with his friends, which threw him into a 
deeper repose than Usual, — We also this day 
heard that a party of Indians from Ma[c]kinaw 
was coming do[w]n and was seen at Lake St Clair". 



52 ROBERT LUCAS 

Friday passed without preparation in tlie gar- 
rison at Detroit or attempt to molest the work 
of the British on the Canadian side. Toward 
sunset, Colonels McArthur and Cass were sent 
with three hundred fifty men to the River Raisin 
to meet Captain Brush. To send these two 
prominent Colonels out of the camp at this most 
critical time on an expedition which had been 
refused them earlier in the week when the dan- 
ger was less imminent appeared to the army as 
only a step towards the surrender to the enemy. 

Saturday came with "Everything in confusion 
as usual" and the British busily engaged fin- 
ishing their batteries. About two o'clock Gen- 
eral Hull awoke from his inaction long enough 
to give an immediate refusal to a demand for 
the surrender of the fort; and soon the town 
was under bombardment. At Spring Well be- 
low the town that night. Captain Snelling ascer- 
tained that the enemy were coming across the 
river; and when daylight of the sixteenth came, 
it found troops and artillery busily making a 
landing on the American side three miles below 
Detroit. Captain Snelling sent to General Hull 
for some pieces of artillery; but Hull neglected 
to send any, and the British landed without 
molestation and began to march up the river in 
columns of platoons. Here an effective attack 



THE SURRENDER OF DETROIT r)3 

upon the British, and the use of artillery would 
perhaps still have saved the day. But instead 
the impotent General commanded the artillery 
not to fire, and ordered all to retreat into the 
fort. The head of the British column had now 
arrived within five hundred yards of the Ameri- 
can lines. General Hull held a consultation with 
the enemy, and at about eight o'clock surren- 
dered his command.^^ Not a stroke of defense 
had been made, not a shot fired at the oncoming 
troops ; nor was there even a council called lest 
the purpose of a tame surrender be defeated. 
Lucas writes: "In entering into this capitulation 
the Gnl only consulted his own fealings, not an 
ofiicer was consulted, not one antisipated a Sur- 
render till they Saw the white flag displayed up- 
on the walls. Even the women was indignant 
at the Shameful degradation of the Americ[an] 
character, and all felt as they should have felt 
but he who held in his hands the reins of au- 
thority." 

No words can express the bitter disappoint- 
ment of the men when they learned that the en- 
tire army (including the troops of McArthur 
and Cass, returning through the woods to De- 
troit) had been surrendered as prisoners of war. 
They had left their homes and stmggled for 
two months on a weary march over wretched 



54 ROBERT LUCAS 

roads and through leagues of swamp and wil- 
derness, braving the constant peril of Indian am- 
bush in the hope of finally serving their country. 
They had crossed the border and taken posses- 
sion of foreign soil — an army of American pio- 
neers courageous even to recklessness and eager 
only for an opportunity to engage the enemy. 

For long weeks they had delayed and waited 
at the command of their General, hoping always 
for a chance to strike a blow at the hated British. 
They had gone without food in days of fatiguing 
skirmish duty; they had endured loss of sleep in 
nights of weary watches; they had seen their 
comrades fall in engagements where proper sup- 
port and reinforcement were refused by their 
timorous commander. Balked in every patriotic 
effort, and forced to watch the army of the ene- 
my growing stronger at every dallying step of 
Hull's tactics, they had endured the final retreat 
from the foreign shores in the hope of at least a 
brave defense of their own fortress and soil. 

And now at last this Sabbath morning in 
August found their General at bay on his own 
ground. There remained nothing but a last 
bold defense against British invasion of Ameri- 
can soil, and hope revived in the garrison. Guns 
were placed to command the approach, troops 
were stationed and everything was in preparation 



THE SURRENDER OF DETROIT 55 

for a courageous stand. Just at this moment, 
when expectancy was on every countenance and 
the joy of action and the eagerness to retrieve 
their fallen fortunes in every heart, the white 
flag of surrender fluttered above the walls. On 
an instant the hopes that had sustained the nien 
on the long marches and weary watches and per- 
ilous sallies faded away and the pent up feelings 
of a disappointed army gave way to impotent 
wrath. Officers in their rage snapped their 
swords in two across their knees and strong 
men by the hundreds broke down and cried like 
children.^^ 



VII 

The Close of the AYar 

With the surrender of the fort a complex prob- 
lem confronted Robert Lucas in connection with 
his anomalous position in the army. Was he 
to be considered as an officer of the United States 
Army? If so, he would be transported to Can- 
ada with the 4th Regiment. Or was he to be 
classed as a volunteer of the Ohio Militia? In 
that case he would be sent home to Ohio on 
parole as a prisoner of war. Lucas was fearful 
that Hull would consign him to the former al- 
ternative, in spite of the fact that he had person- 
ally taken the responsibility of Lucas's staying 
with the volunteers when he had received con- 
trary orders as a Captain in the United States 
Army.^^ He finally decided to take the matter 
into his own hands. 

''I assertained", writes Lucas in his journal, 
^'that all the U. S troops was to be sent to Que- 
beck, and being apprehensive that Gnl Hull would 
wish to have me Sent with them, I thought it pru- 
dent to leave the garrison previous to the British 



THE CLOSE OF THE WAR 57 

taking possession I therefore placed my Sword 
and uniform clothes in my brother [(]Capt J Lu- 
cas's) Trunk threw my musket and cartridge box 
against the wall and left the fort, I went down 
in the town of Detroit and passed in the capaci- 
ty of a citizen, and paid a particular attention to 
the Proceedings. The British first placed a 
peace of Artillery in front of Gnl Hulls Door 
one at each of our Battery and placed guards to 
command the defiles round the fort previ[o]us to 
our troops being marched out of the fort. Their 
order of march into the fort wa[s] the Begulars 
and those in Uniform in front, the Militia not in 
Uniform next a Compa[n]y with handkerch[i]efs 
round their heads and painted like Indians next 
and the Indians in the rear Commanded by 
British officers Dressed and painted like Indians. 
The Indians was not suffered to go into the fort, 
I Stood at the corner of the street and Saw them 
pass me in this order, with indignant feelings, 
but when our troops was marched out our Coul- 
ors Struck and the British Coulors hoisted in 
their Stead, my feelings was affected beyond ex- 
pression. My God who could bare the sight 
wdthout vowing eternal vengeanc[e] against the 
perpetrators of Such Diabolical acts, and against 
the Nation that would employ such Detestable 
Savage allies. To See our Coulors prostitute to 



58 ROBERT LUCAS 

See and hear the firing from our own battery 
and the huzzaws of the British troops the yells 
of the Savages and the Discharge of small arms, 
as Signals of joy over our disgrace was scenes 
too horrid to meditate upon with any other view 
that to seek revenge — " Finally he saw Gen- 
eral Hull "walking linked arms, with a British 

officer, from the fort to his own hous[e] 

and appeared to be very pleasingly engaged in 
conversation with him — " 

In the afternoon, hearing that the 4th Regi- 
ment and "General Lucas" were to be sent to Que- 
bec, he went down to the river and boarded the 
Maria of Presque Isle, on which Major Denny's 
detachment of Ohio Militia was to be transport- 
ed. The ship weighed anchor on the eighteenth 
and started down the river to Maiden where a 
short stay was made. Here, in order to escape 
notice and a possible transfer to Quebec, Lucas 
kept himself "tolerably close below" where he 
complains that the "vessel was loaded with furs 
and the Strength of the Skins and the Bilge 
water was enough to Suffocate us to Death." 

The journey to Cleveland was not an alto- 
gether agreeable one, for there were about two 
hundred thirty men aboard, not more than half 
of whom could ever lie down at a time. On the 
twenty-third day of August, Colonel McArthur 



THE CLOSE OF THE WAR 59 

and a number of his men, including Lucas, land- 
ed at a point about twenty-six miles from Cleve- 
land and walked the remaining distance. At 
Cleveland, Lucas, filling a knapsack with his 
uniform, his journal, and such other articles as 
he did not wish to leave, started on foot across 
the country to Canton. From there he journeyed 
to Georgetown, and descended the Ohio River by 
boat to Portsmouth. He arrived at his home 
about ten o'clock on Friday morning, the fourth 
of September, 1812. On that day he concluded 
his journal with this interesting paragraph: 

I do hope that the Disasterous Surrender of Detroit 
may terminate in Public good, It has kindeled an un- 
exampeled flame of Patriotism in the western countary, 
and it may perhaps be a useful! Caution to our Govern- 
m[en]t who they entrust with th[e] Command of their 
armies— for my part I am determined if life is spared, 
nev[e]r to desert till I have Satisfaction, for the insults 
giv[e]n us by ou[r] Detestable Enemy the British and 
the[i]r savage allies. Rorert Lucas 

Portsmouth Ohio 4th Sept[embe]r 1812 Safe arr[i]ved 

&C.46 

Thus ended the unfortunate Hull campaign. 
Colonel Cass proceeded at once to Washington, 
D. C, with despatches to the government. His 
report told the story of the campaign much to 
the discredit of General Hull; and largely upon 
this report were based the charges which resulted 



60 ROBERT LUCAS 

in the court martial and final conviction of that 
officer. "^^ Moreover an examination of the official 
report of Colonel Cass reveals the interesting 
fact that in making up his account of the cam- 
paign, he had access to the journal of Robert 
Lucas; and in many cases he embodies in his re- 
port sentences and even paragraphs taken direct- 
ly from the daily record of Lucas. ^^ From this 
source he obtained his minute and thrilling ac- 
count of the surrender of Detroit, which occurred 
when Cass and McArthur were in the wilderness 
miles away from the scene of action. 

Upon his return to Portsmouth, Robert Lucas 
found his wife lying very sick. All summer she 
had been unwell; and on the eighteenth of Octo- 
ber of that year she died, leaving Robert with 
an infant daughter, Minerva, who was then not 
more than a year and a half old. 

The death of his wife, following almost im- 
mediately upon his return from a disastrous mil- 
itary campaign, must have made the winter of 
1812-13 a sad one for Lucas. He spent the time 
acting as recruiting officer under instructions 
from Colonel Miller of the regular army and at- 
tending to his duties as Brigadier General in the 
Ohio Militia. On January 2, 1813, he wrote to 
James Monroe, then acting as Secretary of War, 
resigning his position as Captain in the 19th 



THE CLOSE OF THE WAR 61 

United States Infantry. He gave as his reasons 
the necessity of attending to the needs of his 
brigade in the Ohio Militia, the impossibility of 
confining himself to the duties of a platoon 
officer after having so long served as a field 
officer, and finally the feeling that he was doing 
his country no service in the capacity of a United 
States Army officer. He stated, however, his 
willingness to accept, if the government thought 
proper to confer it, a position more consistent 
with his rank in the State Militia; and in March 
he received and accepted an appointment, dated 
February 20, 1813, as Lieutenant Colonel in the 
regular army. This position, however, seems 
to have brought him even less satisfaction than 
the former one. 

Early in April, 1813, he received orders from 
Duncan McArthur, then a Brigadier General in 
the regular army, to repair to Chillicothe to su- 
perintend the recruiting of the 26th Kegiment 
of Infantry. At once he proceeded to that place 
and commenced his duties. Soon afterward he 
received orders from Washington requiring him 
to report at St. Louis, where he had been as- 
signed to the command of the Rangers. This 
was not at all to the liking of Lucas, who had 
accepted the appointment under the full impres- 
sion that he was to be assigned to duty under 



62 ROBERT LUCAS 

McArthur. So lie protested, stating that the 
Rangers were a class of troops with whom he 
had never had any connection and of whom he 
had never had a favorable opinion. He finally 
resigned from the office of Lieutenant Colonel, 
as he had previously from that of Captain, the 
resignation taking effect June 30, 1813.^^ 

His service in the regular army having ter- 
minated, Lucas turned again to the more con- 
genial duties of Brigadier General in the Ohio 
Militia. In the meantime, General William 
Henry Harrison had been placed in command of 
the Northwestern army, with a large force at 
his disposal and instructions to resume the con- 
quest of Canada. From a military point of view 
it was an unwise undertaking; but the desire of 
the troops for revenge would brook no hesita- 
tion. During the winter General Harrison made 
an ineffectual attempt to march on Detroit, which 
ended only in the massacre of one wing of his 
force at the River Raisin. Reversing his tactics, 
he assumed the defensive and strove to protect 
the line of forts stretched across northern Ohio 
against the approach of Proctor and the hordes 
of Indian allies. This attack from Proctor as- 
sumed threatening aspects in July, when he 
mailed from Lake Erie up the Sandusky River 
xmd made preparations to take Fort Stephenson. 



THE CLOSE OF THE WAR 63 

On July 24, 1813, Lucas was ordered to have 
his troops ready to march at once and take the 
field with Harrison. He paid three dollars to 
the express who brought him the message, and 
at once set about making preparations for the 
march. The first week in August found him 
in camp with the Northwestern Army at San- 
dusky; but he had arrived too late to do more 
than appreciate the glory of the gallant defense 
of Fort Stephenson by Major Croghan on Aug- 
ust 2d. Here he remained for some weeks per- 
forming the routine duties of military life at 
Camp Ohio.'^^ 

The enthusiasm for the campaign was very 
great at this time, and volunteers came pouring 
in from all parts of the State. General Harri- 
son, however, did not feel the need of so large 
an army as had gathered at Sandusky; and so, 
relying on his regular forces, he decided to dis- 
miss the volunteer troops. This aroused a great 
deal of dissatisfaction among the Ohio volun- 
teers, who considered it a reflection on their 
abilities and a lack of appreciation of the prompt- 
ness with which they had responded to his call. 
On the 29th of August, 1813, a meeting of the 
general and staflp ofiicers of the Ohio Militia at 
Upper Sandusky was held. At this meeting a 
committee was appointed, consisting of Briga- 



64 ROBERT LUCAS 

dier General Lucas, Brigadier Quarter Master 
Ezra Osborn, and William Key Bond, Judge 
Advocate of the Army of Militia. They were 
requested to draw up resolutions to be reported 
to a general meeting of the commissioned and 
staff officers at noon of the following day. 

On the next day at the appointed time, the 
meeting was held near the center of the camp. 
Brigadier General James Manary was chosen 
President, and Ezra Osborn was made Secretary. 
General Lucas, on behalf of the committee, made 
a long report in the form of a preamble and five 
resolutions. The preamble constituted the great- 
er part of the instrument and discussed at length 
the urgent call for volunteers by General Har- 
rison to Governor Meigs on July 2 2d, his re- 
peated letters to the Governor urging haste in 
their assembling, and his final rejection of their 
services. The resolutions which followed en- 
dorsed and commended Governor Meigs for his 
services. Referring to General Harrison, how- 
ever, it was resolved ' ' That the conduct of his 
Excellency^ the Commander in Chief (Wm. H^i 
Harrison) of the Northwestern Army, is on this 
occasion shrouded in mystery and to us per- 
fectly INEXPLICABLE." The report was adopted, 
signed by the leading officers, and ordered printed 
in the Franklinton and Chillicothe newspapers.^^ 



THE CLOSE OF THE WAR 65 

A copy of the United States pay roll of Ohio 
soldiers, in the office of the Adjutant General of 
the State of Ohio, shows that the service of Lucas 
in the campaign of 1813 ended September 9th. 
He returned to his home at Portsmouth without 
further participation in the actual combat. 

Lucas had enemies many and bitter. But none 
were more implacable or unceasing in their hos- 
tility than Elijah Glover, the county Sheriff who 
had arrested him in the year 1810. In 1814 
Glover was arrested on grounds furnished by 
two letters of a treasonable nature written over 
his signature. He immediately accused Lucas 
of the authorship of the letters and charged him 
with forgery. A military court of enquiry, called 
at the request of General Lucas, sat upon the 
case, investigated the charge, and unanimously 
acquitted Lucas of any connection with or know- 
ledge of the matter. 

The incident, however, was made use of by his 
political opponents in after years to defeat him 
for office. In 1830 when Lucas was a candidate 
for Governor of the State of Ohio the charge 
made by Glover sixteen years before, was resur- 
rected and circulated against him. In answer to 
a letter of inquiry from one of his constituents, 
Lucas wrote the following detailed account of 
the court of enquiry of 1814: 



66 ROBERT LUCAS 

Friendly Grove Pike County Ohio''^'- 
August 2d 1830 
Dear Sir 

Your very friendly letter of the 24tti ult was re- 
c[ei]ved by last mail; for the information ther[e]in con- 
tained I tender you, together with your broth[er] David 
Robb Esqr my Sincere thanks, — That the Toung of 
Slander Should be let loos[e] upon me, and the pen of Cal- 
umny wielded aga[in]st me by the aristocratic coalition 
upon my nomin[a]tion being annou[nce]d [?] by the Dem- 
ocratic Republicans as a Candidate for Gov[e]rn[or] is 
nothing more than I expected — The reports you allude 
to are base fabrications as th[e]re wer[e] nev[e]r any 
officers tried on my charges, or letters written by me, 
neither were ther[e] any officers agai[ns]t whom I had 
an antipathy — The Circumstances out of which the re- 
port m[u]st have arisen are the following — Sometime in 
the year 1814 — a letter Postmarked at Portsmouth and 
Directed to Major W H Puthuf[f] enclosing one Di- 
re[c]ted to Mi" M'Gregor Caneday, both Signed E Glover, 
has as app[ear]ed by the post marks been forw[a]rded 
to Detroit, and retur[ne]d to Major Puthuff who receiv- 
[e]d th[e]m at Chillicothe — Major Puthuff on examining 
the letters, Caused Glover who was then acting as 
Sheriff of Scioto Co[u]nty, to be ar[r]ested and take[n] 
to Chillicothe, on an exami[na]tio[n] before Judge 
Thompson, he deni[e]d being the writer of the letters, 
and being a most violent Personal and political enemy 
of mine, asse[r]ted me to be the author — his assertio[n] 
cau8[ed] considera[b]l[e] ex[c]item[eu]t, so that I consid- 
e[re]d it due to myself and friends to have a public in- 
vestigat[ion] of the charge and requested of Major Genl 
Denny und[e]r whose Command I held the office of 



THE CLOSE OF THE WAR 67 

Brigadi[e]r Gnl to detail a Court of Enquiry to inq[u]ir[e] 
into the grounds of tlie report as well as into my g[e]n- 
[e]ral e]iara[c]t[e]r and conduct as an officer and Citizen 
My req[u]est was granted and a Co[u]rt of Enqu[i]ry 
Conven[e]d at Chillico[t]he on the 29th of July 1814 and 
lasted to the 7* [?] of September. 

Glover was subp[oen]ed and att[end]ed the Co[u]rt as 
my accus[er] at my request The Co[u]rt admit[t]ed him 
as a witness and grant[e]d him the most extrem[e] range 
to introd[uc]e testim[on]y that might be prejudici[a]l to 
my chara[c]ter — The opinion of the Court with regard 
to the letters is as foll[ow]s viz — "The Court Unani- 
mo[u]sly agree on the following opinion viz — After ma- 
ture deliberation the Court are of opinion that no evi- 
dence has been presented which proves General Robert 
Lucas to be the author or writer of the two letters 
Signed E Glover the one directed to W^ H. Puthuff 
enclosing one directed to M^ Mag[r]egor Caneda nor 
that he was knowing thereto — " 

The Major Genl forward[ed] to me a Co[p]y of the 

opinion of the Cou[r]t, with his approval ther[e]of in the 

following letter which will show in what light he viewed 

me as an officer — 

^ ^. Circlevilire] October Tth isu 

Dear Sir 

Pardon me for the neglect of not Sending you before 

this time, a Copy of the opinion of the Court of Enquiry 

on the testimony recorded by the Court of those things 

which you have caused to be inquired of — I now enclose 

it — I have received your Rank roll, and your return of 

the Strength of your Brigade, I do assure you that it 

gives me a sinsere pleasure, to acknowledge the Merit 

of officers who deserve it — You sure [?] will not Suspect 



68 ROBERT LUCAS 

me of flattery when I acknowledge that you have in 
ev[e]ry instance complyed with my order[s] and that in 
due time 

Please to ac[c]ept my sinc[er]e respect &g 
Genl Robert Lucas — (Copy-) James Dexny. 

Genl McLene now Secretary of State, was recorder of 
the Court of Enquiry He will recelle[c]t al[l] the cir- 
c[u]mstanc[es] and I pr[e]s[u]m[e] he would give a stat[e- 
me]nt if it should be thought ne[ce]ssary of [?] the 
ch[a]rges atte[m]pt[e]d to be exhib[i]ted ag[ai]nst me, — 
I carried a Suit ag[ai]nst Glover in Scioto Co[u]nty on 
that and an other Case of Slander they were both tried 
before Judge McLene — Should any further Charges be 
made, and it should be thought nec[e]ssa[r]y to have 
Judge McLen[e]'s opinion[?], I pre[su]me he would be 
willi[n]g to do me Justice, his statem[en]t would clear 
me from any imputatio[n], — with Sinc[ere] resp[ec]ts I 
am your Obt Svt Robert Lucas 

Joshua Robb Esqr (Confidential) 

The court consisted of Colonel John McDon- 
ald, President; Jeremiah McLene, Eecorder; and 
Colonel Clark, Major Kilgore, and possibly 
others as members. During the course of the 
trial Glover was allowed to bring in evidence of 
a personal nature. Aside from the charge of 
forgery, he brought before the court the story 
of Lucas's resistance of arrest in 1810 and also 
accused him of misconduct in the Hull campaign 
in the War of 1812. Lucas admitted that he 
had been imprudent in his resistance of arrest 



THE CLOSE OF THE WAR 69 

while under the influences of passion, but stoutly 
defended his conduct as an officer in the service 
of his country. The result of the court of en- 
quiry was a complete justification of General 
Lucas; and in the latter part of the same year 
(1814) the people of his senatorial district 
showed their appreciation of his public services 
by sending him to the State Senate to succeed 
Lewis Summers. 



VIII 
State Senator 

Many varying events had come into the life of 
Robert Lucas since he left his seat in the House 
of Representatives in 1809. Five years had 
passed, and he was again elected to sit among 
the Solons of his State — this time in the Senate. 
During the session of 1814-1815 we find him 
representing in that body the counties of Gallia 
and Scioto. His chief interest in the proceed- 
ings seems to have been centered in militia leg- 
islation, being appointed chairman of a commit- 
tee to act jointly with a committee from the 
House in regard to militia laws. Affairs of this 
nature, together with matters of a local concern — 
such as reporting a bill for the incorporation of 
the town of Portsmouth, and presenting a peti- 
tion from the citizens of Scioto County for an 
appropriation to open a road — constituted his 
share in legislation.^"^ He was reelected in 1816 
and, indeed, continued to succeed himself every 
two years until 1822. Nor was his military en- 
thusiasm without its reward; for in February 



STATE SENATOR 71 

1816, the Senate and House in joint session 
elected him Major- General of the 2d Division 
of the Ohio Militia. ^^ 

On the 7th of March, 1816, he married Miss 
Friendly Ashley Sumner, a daughter of Edward 
Sumner. About this time, or shortly after, he 
moved north into Pike County (then newly or- 
ganized) and settled in the town of Piketon, 
which, for over a score of years, was to be his 
home. Ninety years have passed by; and yet the 
little village of Piketon, with the hills on one side 
and the Scioto River on the other, has not grown 
a great deal. In all probability it has not changed 
materially from the village which claimed Rob- 
ert Lucas as its most prominent citizen. The 
present postmaster is a grandson of Robert's 
brother, Joseph Lucas ; and there still tread the 
gravel paths of Piketon, men and women who 
remember the tall straight figure and stern face 
of the Governor and the delicious currant pies 
of his wife Friendly. 

When Lucas first made this place his home 
he was thirty-five years of age — in the prime of 
his young manhood with the best years of his 
life before him. He lived in a house that stiU 
stands on the main street of the town. In the 
front part of this house he opened the first general 
store in Piketon, in partnership, it is said, with 



72 ROBERT LUCAS 

liis brother-in-law, AVilliam Kendall. They 
seem to have carried a stock of from four to five 
hundred dollars worth of goods, including every- 
thing from shoe-strings to molasses. For those 
days this was a large store, and it held a promi- 
nent place in the town's early life.^ 

Here this merchant legislator lived his simple 
life while years tempered his disposition and 
responsibility brought him calmer wisdom. In 
the election of 1818 he received three hundred 
forty-five votes in Scioto County, while his op- 
ponents polled but seventy and twenty-five re- 
spectively. In the session that followed he was 
chosen Speaker of the Senate. The General 
Assembly of 1818-1819 took up the matter of 
judicial circuits, created two new circuits of the 
Courts of Common Pleas, and appointed presi- 
dent judges for them. This legislation seems to 
have involved Lucas in some difficulty. The sub- 
ject was assigned to a joint committee appointed 
by the Speakers of the two houses ; and as Speak- 
er of the Senate, Lucas appointed Daniel Ma- 
deira and William R. Cole to represent the 
Senate upon the committee. 

Charles Hammond, who represented the coun- 
ties of Belmont and Monroe in the House, took 
occasion, in an address to the citizens of Ohio, 
to attack Speaker Lucas in particular for the 



STATE SENATOR 78 

appointment of Mr. Madeira — a tavern keeper 
of Chillicothe, who was, as Ilanimond claimed, 
"from his associations and situation" as little 
qualified for the position as any member of the 
Senate. This, together with further aspersive 
remarks, greatly aroused the ire of Lucas and in 
April, 1819, he wrote out a lengthy answer to 
Hammond and sent it to the Ohio Monitor at 
Columbus for publication, under the signature 
of "Plain Truth". His defense of Madeira is 
interesting, especially in connection with the 
positive stand which he took against intemper- 
ance in his later life. "Does Mr. Hammond . . 
, . . ", he asks, " wish it to be believed, that no 
member but one of his own profession, ought to 
be appointed on the committee 'I Does he con- 
sider an intelligent and respectable tavern keep- 
er of Chillicothe to be included in a class of 
citizens that ought to be deprived of equal privi- 
leges ? or does he wish to class such men in that 
degree of humility, that he must have consider- 
ed the people of Ohio in, when he on a former 
occasion called them a ^Swinish Multitude' and 
consequently not capable of knowing their own 
interests or that of the public ? AVhatever may 
be Mr. Hammond's views of equality; and the 
dignity of certain persons or professions, T pre- 
sume that the people of Ohio will never submit 



74 ROBERT LUCAS 

to iuvidious distinctions between professions, 
avocations callings, or other situations in life, 
but that the principle enquiry into the conduct 
of their public offices, will be, whether they pos- 
sess Political honesty, capability, and have faith- 
fully discharged their duty". 

During this session, the two houses met joint- 
ly to elect a United States Senator to succeed 
Jeremiah Morrow. The records show^ that Rob- 
ert Lucas received votes on the first three bal- 
lots; but the fourth ballot resulted in the election 
of William A. Trimble, who, as a Major in Col- 
onel Mc Arthur's Regiment six years before, had 
tramped with Lucas through the mud and the 
swamps of northern Ohio and laid dow^n his 
arms at the surrender of Detroit. 

After the War of 1812 the country had settled 
down to more peaceful ways, and the influences 
of law and order and civilization were making 
themselves felt in the community. Time had 
wrought great change in Robert Lucas. Out of 
the depths of his nature was being forged that 
rugged earnestness that made his later life so 
powerful for good. His character had never 
lacked strength; it had simply lacked direction. 
Now, with a more mature view of life and a 
saner conception of its duties, higher ideals ap- 
pealed more strongly to him. 



STATE SENATOR 



i .) 



The year 1819 seems to have been a marked 
one in this respect; for in Jnly he united with 
the Methodist Church at Piketon, and through- 
out the remainder of his life was a prominent 
worker in the cause of that denomination. View- 
ed in the light of his subsequent career, the gen- 
uineness of his religious convictions can not be 
questioned. Lucas was always intense. He was 
as intense in his religion as he was in political 
activities or military matters. And both at this 
time and later in his life this intensity found ex- 
pression in verse. There has been preserved in 
his own handwriting a hymn of seven stanzas 
written a short time before he joined the church 
and entitled, "Robert Lucas's Constant Prayer. ''^^ 
The first, third, sixth, and seventh stanzas readi 

Ob Lord my soul from sin relieve, 
And from a mind extremely blind, 

Oh that the truth I could believe 

With all my heart, and soul, and mind. 

Oh that through faith, I could behold, 
My Lord, and Savior, on the tree. 

And realize, that he was sold. 

Scourged, crucilied, and bled for me. 

Prepare me Lord, to meet the day. 
When death's appointed time is come. 

And with a faithful heart to say. 

Oh Lord, thy gracious will be done. 



76 ROBERT LUCAS 

And when the vale of death is past, 

May I, with saints, unite above, 
Where songs of praises, ever last. 

In sounding, Christ's redeeming love. 

Another religious poem of thirty-two stanzas 
which is extant bears this heading: "A re very 
of the mind while riding alone, in Pike County, 
Ohio, in July 1819, the afternoon of the day I 
joined the church." Poems and verse of this 
nature, of which over one hundred manuscript 
pages have been preserved, illustrate a phase of 
Lucas's life that is not generally considered and 
which deepened constantly as he grew older. 

That the respect of the community was his 
is shown by his frequent reelection in Ohio to 
the office of State Senator. In 1820 Thomas 
Hersey appeared as a candidate against him. 
This Thomas Hersey was a physician, a minister 
and a new comer in the State, and his immediate 
entrance into the political field aroused no little 
interest among the voters. Campaign arguments 
of various kinds were used against Lucas, but 
the one that perhaps did him the most injury in 
the remote parts of the district was the report — 
to quote from a letter from one of his constitu- 
ents at Portsmouth — "that you voted to give 
M"" Wilson four hundred Dollars for preaching 
a sermon after the success of Gen^ Jackson at 



STATE SENATOR 77 

New Orleans/' Hersey, however, withdrew 
from the race in September, having learned that 
his residence in the State had not been long 
enough to make him eligible. Thereupon Lucas 
was reelected without opposition. In the same 
year he was chosen as a presidential elector and 
cast his vote for James Monroe. 

On the 12th of December, 1821, United States 
Senator William A. Trimble died; and in the Jan- 
uary following, the two houses of the State leg- 
islature met in joint convention to elect his suc- 
cessor. Lucas received votes on the first ballot; 
but the contest soon narrowed down to Ethan 
Allen Brown (at that time Governor of the 
State) and his predecessor in that office, Thomas 
AYorthington. On the ninth ballot Brown was 
elected and immediately resigned the office of 
Governor to accept the duties of L^nited States 
Senator. The fact is significant of the compar- 
ative regard in which the two positions were 
held. The salary of the Governor of the State 
at this time was $1000. 

In the fall election of 1822 AVilliam Kendall, 
the brother-in-law and political rival of Robert Lu- 
cas, was elected to represent Pike, Scioto and Law- 
rence counties in the State Senate. Thereafter 
Lucas for two years devoted his time and atten- 
tion to his private affairs. It was during this in- 



78 ROBERT LUCAS 

termission that lie built himself a house which 
was amoug the finest in all southern Ohio. To 
this old time mansion years have brought some- 
what of change; but it still stands on the Jack- 
son road two miles east of Piketon. It was a 
large, two-story brick house with a hall in the 
center and sitting-room and parlor opening on 
either side of the hall. Each room, upstairs and 
down, was provided with a fireplace. Over the 
front door was placed a stone on which were cut 
the following words: "Virtue Liberty and Inde- 
pendence". Beneath the word "Liberty" ap- 
j)eared a five-pointed star; while below the motto 
were carved name and date: ''K. Lucas, 1824." 
Located on a farm of four hundred thirty-seven 
acres, surrounded with large trees and with sweet 
brier and eglantine growing in profusion about 
the place and over the walls, it was indeed a 
home of wonderful attractiveness.^" 

The grove about the house was the distinctive 
feature of the farm; and so, in honor of his wife, 
Lucas named his new home "Friendly Grove". 
Here the Lucas family lived for fifteen years and 
here Robert Lucas and his hospitable wife enter- 
tained in great state. Political friends came to 
discuss w^eighty matters of public concern and to 
laugh at the quick-w^itted sallies of Mrs. Lucas. 
Methodist circuit riders stopped here in their 



STATE SENATOR 79 

uiiending round of pioneer preaching and found 
spiritual improvement in religious conversation 
with the serious minded legislator — while they 
incidentally nourished their gaunt frames upon 
the ample and delectable meals outspi-ead b}' 
their hostess. And not least eagerly came the 
nephews and nieces from Piketon and the neigh- 
borhood to spend a week or so amid the charms 
of Friendly Grove. Here they lived in constant 
happiness on the cakes and smiles of Aunt 
Friendly, and looked with awe upon the stern 
fio:ure of the master of the house as he returned 
from his legislative duties, silent and intent upon 
matters of importance in the councils of the 
State. 

Aunt Friendly Lucas was a large woman. Not 
a great deal over five feet in height, she weighed 
perhaps two hundred pounds. She had a florid 
complexion and an ever ready tongue, an un- 
quenchable fund of spirits and vigor, and a wide- 
spread reputation as a cook; and she was a gen- 
eral favorite, particularly with those to whom 
these and her many other virtuous qualities ap- 
pealed. One of her pastimes was horseback 
riding. Indeed, it was a common sight to see 
her galloping over the rough country roads of 
early Ohio on her coal black horse "Nig", or, 
with a big basket swung from the pommel of 



80 HOBERT LUCAS 

her saddle, riding over the stretch of hills that 
lay between Friendly Grove and Piketon on her 
way to do the shopping for the family. '^^ 

In the winter of the year that saw the comple- 
tion of his new home Lucas was returned to his 
seat in the Ohio Senate, receiving a large ma- 
jority in each of the three counties of the dis- 
trict. Two bills deserve special attention in this 
session. One was passed on February 4, 1825, 
and provided for a board of canal commissioners 
to construct the Ohio Canal from Portsmouth to 
Cleveland, and that part of the Miami Canal lo- 
cated between Cincinnati and Dayton. The same 
act provided for another board to raise loans for 
the canal; and on the 4th of July, 1825, the work 
of construction was begun near Newark, Gover- 
nor De Witt Clinton of New York throwing the 
first shovelful of dirt. The second bill was one 
passed on the next day (February 5th), and was 
the first act establishing a uniform system of 
free schools for the State of Ohio. Both of 
these subjects were near to the heart of Robert 
Lucas. The support of the public schools es- 
pecially enlisted his sympathy; and throughout 
his life he never lost an opportunity of advanc- 
ing their cause. The subject of canals had for 
him a local as well as a general interest. Con- 
sidering the fact that the projected Ohio Canal 



statp: senator 81 

was to run along the Scioto Kiver througli Pike 
County and connect his former town of Ports- 
mouth with Lake Erie, he could hardly be other- 
wise than enthusiastic in its support. He was, 
moreover, one of the most prominent advocates 
of general canal legislation and other policies of 
internal improvement in the State. He was 
chairman of the joint canal committee that pre- 
pared and drafted the bill authorizing the con- 
struction of the Ohio Canal, and for years he 
continued to hold this position on the committee. 
But this canal business brought him woes as 
well as weal. During the campaign of 1828 (as 
we shall see in the next chapter) his conduct in re- 
gard to canal matters in the Senate was severely 
criticized by his opponents; and to this day cit- 
izens of Piketon aver that the reason the Ohio 
Canal does not run down the Piketon, or eastern 
side of the river, is that Robert Lucas owned 
lands at Jaspar on the west side, and secured the 
placing of the canal so as to benefit his lands in 
that region. 



IX 

A Jacksoniajs^ Democrat 

Ever since the battle of New Orleans in 1815, 
Robert Lucas had been an ardent admirer of An- 
drew Jackson, whom he resembled in many ways. 
The same intense spirit and tenacity of purpose 
dominated both men. They were cast in the 
same rugged pioneer mould; and one can see in 
the portraits of the man from Ohio, a marked 
resemblance to the strong stern features of his 
Tenneseean chief. Long before the Democratic 
mantle of Jefferson had fallen upon the shoulders 
of Jackson, Lucas had become a devoted follow- 
er of Old Hickory. Indeed the political princi- 
ples of Andrew Jackson were the most firmly 
fixed tenets in the political philosophy of Rob- 
ert Lucas. 

The decade from 1820 to 1830 is conspicuous 
for the rise in political influence of the western 
States. It is a fact that prior to 1824 no State 
outside of the original thirteen had brought for- 
ward a candidate for the Presidency. But Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee, with their favorite sons, 



ROBEET LUCAS 

FROM A CRAYON 



A JACKSONIAN DEMOCRAT 83 

and Ohio, with her rapidly increasing population 
and her many young men of promise, were mak- 
ing the West a factor which could not safely be 
overlooked in the planning of political cam- 
paigns. In a way the struggle of Jackson for 
the Presidency of the United States was the 
struggle of the West for recognition. Both Clay 
and Jackson were leaders of this movement; but 
Jackson had an advantage over Clay in two par- 
ticulars. First, the tenets of Democracy flour- 
ished more naturally in the western frontier 
States; and secondly, Jackson with his vigorous 
and successful military career had a distinct ad- 
vantage over Clay whose nearest approach to a 
military campaign was to assist in the negotiation 
of a treaty of peace in 1814 which settled none 
of the points for which the war had been fought. 
In 1822 the legislature of Tennessee placed 
Andrew Jackson in nomination as a candidate 
for President of the United States; and in the 
following year he was sent to represent his State 
in the United States Senate. Jackson's friends 
in Ohio took up the campaign with vigor. In 
September, 1824, Caleb Atwater (Ohio's first 
historian) wrote to Robert Lucas from Circleville: 
^'we are doing well and our ticket will carry in 
Ohio beyond a doubt. In Fairfield, Hocking, 
Perry, and Pickaway we shall have a majority 



84 ROBERT LUCAS 

over Adams and Clay both. Who is for Jack- 
son, in Scioto, Lawrence, Gallia & Meigs coun- 
ties? I wish to know who to write to, there. "^^ 
His hopes and predictions, however, were not 
realized, for Ohio cast its entire electoral vote for 
Henry Clay. 

This "Scrub Race for the Presidency" in 1824 
which finally resulted in the election of John 
Quincy Adams by the House of Representatives 
accomplished two things. It gave rise to the 
charge (repeatedly disproved) against Clay and 
Adams of a "corrupt bargain" and operated to- 
ward their defeat four years later. It placed 
Jackson, who had received a plurality of the 
popular votes, of the electoral votes, and of the 
votes of the States, in the position, in the eyes 
of a great mass of the people, of a man publicly 
wronged. The new administration had not been 
in operation eight months before the legislature 
of Tennessee (with but three dissentient votes) 
nominated Andrew Jackson as a candidate for 
the Presidency of the United States in the elec- 
tion of 1828, then three years away. In May of 
the following year (1826) a large public meeting 
in Philadelphia endorsed the nomination, and 
throughout the States the Democrats made early 
preparations for the contest. 

In July of 1826 Caleb Atwater, fresh from 



A JACKSONIAN DEMOCRAT 85 

interviews with General Duff Green, Colonel 
Thomas H. Benton, and other friends of Old 
Hickory, wrote enthusiastically to Robert Lucas 
of the prospects of Andrew Jackson. "All is 
going well," he wrote, "Jackson will receive 200 
votes or upwards, out of 261, at the next election 
beyond a doubt .... All is well and Mr. 
Adams himself is in despair. All is misery, re- 
morse, shame, fear and despair at Washington, 
among the coalition people. Cards, dice, back- 
gammon, chess and billiards are resorted to, for 
the purpose of keeping off the disagreeable ideas, 
which crowd into their minds .... It is time 
to form our line and beat up the long roll. 
Those who are not for us are against us. " 

Ohio was considered as a doubtful State by 
both parties, and the struggle was an earnest 
one. It resulted in a curious and not altosfether 
creditable piece of legislation in the United 
States Congress. The idea occurred to both 
parties that a liberal grant of land to Ohio for 
the benefit of the canals then in process of con- 
struction in that State would prove helpful to 
their cause in the election. Both parties acted 
almost simultaneously in the matter; but the 
Jackson members of the Ohio delegation suc- 
ceeded in bringing their bill in first and secured 
for it first consideration b}' the committee. By 



86 ROBERT LUCAS 

some unaccountable means, however, the bill of 
the opposing party was transferred above the 
other bill on the calendar and successfully passed 
the House. The passage of a second bill for 
the same purpose was of course out of the ques- 
tion; but the Jackson men hurried over to the 
Senate and secured the passage of their bill as 
an amendment to the bill of their opponents. 
In this form the bill became law. Thus Ohio 
received a double grant of the public funds sim- 
ply because the opposing parties were willing to 
sell their legislative prerogative for the use of 
their respective candidates. ^^ 

In the State of Ohio the friends of Jackson 
were toiling assiduously for the Democratic 
cause. Corresponding Jackson committees were 
organized throughout the entire State for the 
purpose of communicating with members of the 
party in all sections and stirring up enthusiasm. 
As the Democratic Senator from Scioto, Pike, 
and Lawrence counties, and as a warm admirer 
of the candidate, Robert Lucas was in the fore- 
front of the strife. Early in 1827 he received a 
letter from Elijah Hay ward, of the Jackson 
committee at Cincinnati, inquiring about the 
progress of the campaign in Lucas's Congression- 
al district and asking for the names of ''eight or 
ten of the most^^/r/z, active and influential ^ b.c^- 



A JACKSONIAN DEMOCRAT 87 

sonians" together with a list of all the Jackson 
postmasters in the district. Thus the corre- 
spondence committees worked, reaching out into 
every county in the State and drawing the Jack- 
sonians together into a united force. 

The year 1827 wore away and the busy presi- 
dential year came in, with the politicians on both 
sides straining every nerve to accomplish victory 
for their respective parties. In July of 1828 
Lucas wrote to John Davidson of Lawrence 
County: "Will you be so good as to inform me 
how the parties stand in Lawrence County as to 
the Presidential election, in this County there 
are at least ^ for the Republican Candidate, A. 
Jackson. I have just returned from Jackson 
Count[y] and I believ[e] there is at least ^ in 
that County for the old patriot ''\ 

Meanwhile Robert Lucas was himself a candi- 
date for the Senate of the State of Ohio; and 
■'"^^'^ local campaign was no less strenuous than 
the presidential. The opposing candidate for 
State Senatorship was his brother-in-law. Gen- 
eral William Kendall. At the same time Lucas 
was a candidate for presidential elector on the 
Jackson ticket, while Kendall was a candidate 
for the same office on the Adams ticket. 

The discussion in the local campaign seems to 
have centered about matters relative to the Ohio 



88 ROBERT LUCAS 

Canal, then under construction.^^ The contro- 
versy over the route of this canal was a compli- 
cated one and the part that Lucas took in the 
negotiations is not easily ascertained. The con- 
struction of the canal, begun so enthusiastically 
in 1825, progressed rapidly. The details of the 
route were left in the hands of the Canal Com- 
missioners — and here the trouble originated. It 
seems to have been the universal understandino; 
in the years 1825 and 1826 that the canal was to 
cross the Scioto Eiver at Chillicothe, proceed 
down the west side to a j^oint opposite or slightly 
above Piketon, and there recross and connect 
Piketon and Portsmouth on the east side. With 
this understanding the land between Piketon 
and Portsmouth was valued at canal rates and 
taxes assessed proportionately. 

When the canal was under discussion in the 
legislative session of 1825-1826 Mr. Hale, of 
Clinton County, introduced in the Senate a res- 
olution to instruct the Canal Commissioners to 
enquire into the possibility of uniting the canal 
from Cleveland with the Miami and Dayton 
Canal, and in the meantime to suspend all pro- 
ceedings on the canal in the Scioto Valley. This 
menace to the interests of the Scioto Valley re- 
quired immediate action. A council of the mem- 
bers of both houses who represented that sec- 



A JACKSONIAN DEMOCRAT 89 

tion was at once called. In this council it was 
decided to offer a resolution instructing the Canal 
Commissioners to make the permanent location 
of the southern section of the canal; and since 
the matter of crossing the river was considered 
settled it was thought best to require in the res- 
olution the building of a dam. No definite pro- 
vision, however, was made for the recrossing of 
the river. As the most experienced member of 
the council, Lucas was requested to offer the res- 
olution. He did so and it was passed by both 
houses. But this resolution was destined to 
make trouble for him. 

In January of 1827 the people east of the 
Scioto began to be alarmed for fear the Canal 
Commissioners intended to continue the canal 
down the west side instead of recrossing at Pike- 
ton. In view of the increase in their taxes be- 
cause of the canal, this was truly alarming. On 
Janua y 22, 1827, John II, Turner, of Ports- 
mouth, wrote to Lucas asking for information 
regarding the reports concerning the commis- 
sion. Their fears were realized, for the Canal 
Commissioners fixed the route on the west side, 
without again crossing the river. In the cam- 
paign of 1828 the resolution which Lucas had 
introduced into the Senate was used against him 
with great effect. They forgot that it perhaps 



90 ROBERT LUCAS 

was the only thing that had saved the southern 
section of the canal from being abandoned alto- 
gether and the Cleveland section connected with 
the Miami instead of the Scioto valley. They 
remembered only that the resolution had con- 
tained no specific provision for the recrossing of 
the river at Piketon. 

In the Western Times of Portsmouth for Sep- 
tember 20, 1828, a communication signed "Rural 
Swain" bitterly arraigned Lucas for his conduct 
in connection with canal matters. In answer to 
his attack, Theo. H. Burrows, a Portsmouth 
friend of Lucas, took up the cudgel in his behalf 
under the pen name of "Henry". In the Times 
for October 4 and October 11 he published a 
strong defense of Lucas and called into question 
the attitude of his opponent, William Kendall, 
on these same canal difficulties. Just how much 
Lucas had to do with the change of the route to 
the opposite side of the river is difficult to ascer- 
tain. The fixing of the route was a matter to 
be settled by the Commissioners and not the 
legislators; and the evidence at hand does not 
support the charge that Lucas had anything to 
do with it. Moreover, the evidence does show 
that after the Canal Commissioners had made 
their decision, in July, 1828, in favor of the west 
side, Lucas voiced the sentiments of the people 



A JACKSONIAK DEMOCRAT 91 

of Piketon and tlie east side in a strong protest 
against the action, and a plea for justice to the 
town of Piketon which would suffer so grievous- 
ly by the change of location. ^^ 

Aside from matters connected with the Ohio 
Canal, the campaign against Lucas was carried 
out largely on personal lines. His enemies re- 
vived and published in the newspapers of the 
day sensational accounts of his arrest eighteen 
years before at Portsmouth. A man signing 
himself "Old Mockasin" reproduced in the col- 
umns of the Western Times the letter which Lu- 
cas wrote to Captain Lindsay while confined in 
the county jail; and accompanied it with various 
uncomplimentary remarks. A week later the 
same paper published a communication from his 
ancient enemy, Elijah Glover, in which, after re- 
counting the details of the arrest, he proceeded 
to renew his charges of forgery made against 
Lucas in 1814, and of perjury in connection with 
the Court of Enquiry which sat upon his case 
and acquitted him of the charge. 

With these preliminaries the contest went to 
the polls. The result was the election of Wil- 
liam Kendall as State Senator. The defeat of 
Lucas must not, however, be laid necessarily to 
personal grounds, since the entire Federal ticket 
for the district was elected. The State as a 



92 ROBERT LUCAS 

whole, on the other hand, went Democratic as 
far as national politics were concerned, and Lu- 
cas was chosen as a presidential elector. So that 
while Kendall was sent to the State Senate, Lu- 
cas had the pleasure and satisfation of casting 
his presidential vote as elector for his beloved 
€hief, Andrew Jackson. ^^ 

Kendall's service in the Senate was short. On 
July 18, 1829, he resigned bis seat, thus neces- 
sitating the election of his successor in the mid- 
dle of a term. The same four counties of Pike, 
Scioto, Lawrence, and Jackson made up the dis- 
trict; and of course the same Federalist majority 
existed which had elected Kendall the previous 
year. That party, however, made a fatal blun- 
der. Two candidates, David Mitchell and Giles 
S. B. Hempstead (both Federalists) announced 
themselves, and neither would withdraw in favor 
of the other. 

Thus matters stood when the Democrats of 
the district began to wake up to the possibilities 
of the campaign. On September 17, 1829, a 
letter was written to Kobert Lucas, signed by a 
score of prominent men of Jackson County, ask- 
ing him — if not inconvenient to his private con- 
cerns — to allow them to use his name as a can- 
didate. Lucas replied, stating that it had al- 
ways been his belief that the promotion of the 



A JACKSONIAN DEMOCRAT 93 

public good should be the ruling principle with 
every good Republican and that private interest 
should never be permitted to control a man's 
political actions. Feeling that the people had a 
right to command the services of any man when 
in their opinion his services were useful to the 
public, he acceded to their request and appeared 
as a candidate to succeed his brother-in-law. 
The outcome is not difficult to guess. The final 
vote stood: Lucas, 1078; Mitchell, 880; Hemp- 
stead, 441. It is apparent that, had the Feder- 
alists combined on one man, Lucas would have 
been again defeated. ^^ 

When the Senate convened on the 7th of De- 
cember, 1829, Robert Lucas was chosen Speaker 
without opposition. It was to be his last year 
in the State Senate; and among his colleagues 
for this session were Duncan McArthur, who in 
the following summer was to be his opponent in 
the gubernatorial race, and Darius Lyman, whom 
he was to defeat in the same contest two years 
later. For term after term Lucas had been re- 
elected to the State Senate; twice he had been 
chosen presidential elector; and twice he had 
been considered as a candidate for the United 
States Senate. 

A story told of him — perhaps true and per- 
haps untrue — illustrates his hold upon his own 



94 ROBERT LUCAS 

district. In one of tlie campaigns for the State 
Senate, his enemies (and he had many) feeling 
that it was impossible to defeat General Lucas, 
invented a plan to humiliate him. There was 
in the district at that time a Pennsylvania Dutch- 
man named Delawder, illiterate and in no way 
qualified for a position of public trust. The 
enemies of the General, with flattery and cajol- 
ing, persuaded him to become a candidate for 
the position; and he with proud seriousness 
played his comic part in the campaign. Natur- 
ally he received few if any votes. Being rallied 
upon his defeat he explained that "he was mak- 
ing a pooty good race, when that tam big Gener- 
al Lucas came along riding on his horse and all 
the tam fools voted for him."^^ 



State Politics 

The activity of Lucas in support of Andrew 
Jackson in the late twenties, together with his 
long and faithful career in the halls of the Gen- 
eneral Assembly had brought him, in 1830, to 
a place of distinct prominence in the Democratic 
politics of the State of Ohio. The leaders of 
the Democratic Republican party in his Con- 
gressional district were making plans, during the 
winter of 1829-1830, to run Lucas as a candidate 
against Samuel Vinton for the seat in the House 
of Representatives; but these plans were with- 
drawn when it was learned that the Jacksonian 
leaders of the State were contemplating his can- 
didacy for the Governorship.^*^ During this 
winter, also, it was decided to arrange for a 
State nominating convention. This was an in- 
novation and was opposed at first by several of 
the leaders of the party; and even as late in the 
campaign as September the Ohio State Bulletin^ 
a Democratic organ, felt it necessary to publish 
in an editorial an extended defense of the system 



96 ROBERT LUCAS 

of conventions for the nomination of candidates. 
The movement, however, gained strength during 
the spring of 1830, and the convention which 
finally met on the 12th of July was a success in 
both numbers and enthusiasm. The meeting 
was held in the German Lutheran Church at 
Columbus, and about two-thirds of the counties 
were represented. There was little doubt as to 
who the candidate should be. Judge Campbell 
was favored by some; but he declined. And so 
Lucas received the unanimous nomination of the 
convention as the Democratic Republican candi- 
date for the Governorship of Ohio.^^ 

While the convention was in session in Col- 
umbus, Henry Clay was also in the city. In 
January, 1830, he had made a trip to New^ Or- 
leans and the Mississippi River towns; and dur- 
ing the summer toured the State of Ohio. At 
Columbus the National Republicans of the State 
gathered about him — Charles Hammond, of the 
Cincinnati Gazette^ Jacob Burnet, John C. 
Wright, Philip Doddridge, Thomas Ewdng, and 
many others.^^ Indeed^ it seems to have been a 
time of vigorous rallying for both parties. 

At this time the candidate of the National 
Republicans had not been announced. The Co- 
alition Party — as the follow^ers of Adams and 
Clay were frequently termed — w^as opposed to 



STATE POLITICS 97 

the plan of conventions and followed the old 
method of announcement through the newspa- 
pers. After this manner the nomination of the 
Coalition forces seems finally to have fallen up- 
on that canny Scot and old-time comrade of 
Robert Lucas, namely, Duncan McArthur. For 
more than a score of years the two men had 
been the closest of friends. They had eaten, 
slept, and fought together; and in his journal of 
the Hull campaign Lucas wrote: ''Never was 

there a braver or better hearted man than Colo 
McArthur."«9 

The careers of the two opposing candidates 
for Governor had been very similar. Each had 
come out to the Northwest Territory as pioneers 
before the State of Ohio w^as formed. Each 
had risen in the Ohio Militia to the rank of 
Major General, fought in the War of 1812, and 
joined the regular army; and each had served 
fourteen years in the General Assembly of the 
State of Ohio. In addition General McArthur 
had been twice elected from an Ohio district to 
a seat in the United States Congress. McAr- 
thur was an older man than Lucas by about nine 
years and in this way had somewhat of an ad- 
vantage. He had come to the Northwest before 
Lucas; he had been Lucas's superior officer in 
the War of 1812, and had won marked distinc- 



98 ROBERT LUCAS 

tion both under General Hull and later under 
General Harrison. In 1818 he had broken with 
the Democratic party on the issue of the United 
States Bank, which he favored. He was a man 
of note throughout the State and an exceedingly 
strong opponent."^ 

The campaign progressed with enthusiasm 
through the summer and fall. In August, 
Thomas L. Hamer (who in later years secured 
for Lucas the Governorship of Iowa) wrote to 
him: "You must ''heej) a stiff upper lip^ — until 
the election is over. I have very little doubt that 
you will be elected." He also said, referring 
to Henry Clay's tour through the State: " It has 
injured him more, in my estimation, with the 
great body of the People, than any other move- 
ment he has made since his retirement." Strong 
men were behind the candidacy of Lucas. Men 
like Judge John McLean, of the United States 
Supreme Court, Judge Elijah Hay ward. Dr. 
John Hamm, Judge Campbell, and many others 
were using every effort to bring about his elec- 
tion. 

The campaign was not without vituperation 
and personal attack; and the system of "Coffin 
Hand Bills" used against Jackson had not been 
forgotten as an instrument of political warfare. 
The leader of the attacks upon Lucas by the 



STATE POLITICS 99 

Coalition party was Charles Hammond. In his 
Cincinnati Gazette of July 27, 1830, an article 
appeared making pointed inquiries regarding the 
charge of forgery of which the court of enquiry 
had acquitted Lucas some sixteen years before. 
The story, much garbled, twisted, and exag- 
gerated, was circulated throughout the State 
and created a great deal of comment. Letters 
came to Lucas from his friends inquiring about 
the matter; and J. C. Melcher, editor of the 
Clullicotlie Evening Post^ wrote asking him for 
information that could be used in answer to 
Hammond's article. 

Out at Friendly Grove, however, Kobert Lu- 
cas appears not to have been greatly disturbed 
by the bitterness of the attacks against him. In 
August he wrote in answer to Melcher: "Hav- 
ing been consid[er]ably engaged during the pres- 
[e]nt week with my Hay and Oat Harvest, I did 
not call at the post office in Piketon until the 
Post ar[r]ived this day — when I found your fa- 
vor of the 2^ inst and a Cincin[na]ti Gazette that 
appeared to have been forwarded by Tu[e]sdays 
mail". Lucas then proceeded to give him a de- 
tailed account of the court of enquiry in 1813, 
and of his acquittal. 

Throughout the State in this campaign there 
was a faction variously called the "Ebonies" and 



100 ROBERT LUCAS 

*' Ebonites" wMcli opposed the election of Lucas 
with a most unrelenting vigor. "^^ In September, 
Judge Reuben Wood, of the Third Circuit, 
wrote to him of the '•''scurrility of some of the 
late ^ Ebony' publications" and of the extremely 
active campaign against the Jacksonian candi- 
date being conducted in the Western Reserve by 
Judge Hitchcock and others. Yet the Demo- 
cratic publications were optimistic, and in the 
last issue before election day the Ohio State 
Bulletin printed the following in capital letters: 

GENERAL LUCAS WILL BE ELECTED GOVERNOR 
OF THIS STATE, IN ALL PROBABILITY, BY A MAJOR- 
ITY OF FROM FIVE TO TEN THOUSAND VOTES. WE 
CARE NOT WHETHER ONE CANDIDATE RUNS AGAINST 

HIM OR HALF A DOZEN NO MATTER HOW MANY OR 

HOW FEW, ALL THE HOBBIES IN CHRISTENDOM, 
CANNOT WITHDRAW FROM HIM THE SUPPORT OF THE 

DEMOCRATIC PARTY HE IS SURELY THE PEOPLe's 

CANDIDATE A PLAIN UNOSTENTATIOUS FARMER, A 

DEVOTED PATRIOT AND A FIRM AND ZEALOUS 

FRIEND OF HIS COUNTRY. 

These hopeful predictions, however, were not 
realized by the election. The contest was waged 
strenuously by both parties up to the last day; 
and when it went to the voters in October, Dun- 
can McArthur was, by a small majority, elected 
Governor of the State of Ohio. 



STATE POLITICS 10 1 

In the fall of the following year, 1831, Robert 
Lucas was chosen by the people of Pike and 
Jackson counties to represent them in the House 
of Representatives of the General Assembly of 
the State; and again he occupied a seat in the 
House where he had sat more than a score of 
years before as a young man of twenty-seven. 
In the election of Speaker he received the great- 
est number of votes of the first ballot; but did 
not have a majority. On the second ballot he 
was defeated by William B. Hubbard. Here, 
in the same body where he had begun his polit- 
ical career, he was exerting his best efforts for 
the public welfare when a second State conven- 
tion nominated him as the Democratic candidate 
for the Governorship of Ohio. 

In the State of Ohio the campaign of 1832 
was a strenuous contest. Four years before the 
State had given an undivided electoral vote for 
Jackson. Now the Democrats were determined 
not only to carry the State for Jackson as Presi- 
dent, but also to elect a Jacksonian to the office 
of Governor. They began the campaign in due 
season. As early as the fall of 1831 there ap- 
peared in the newspapers of Ohio suggestions 
for a State nominating convention. It was pro- 
posed to hold the convention on the 8th of Jan- 
uary, the anniversary of Jackson's victory at 



102 ROBERT LUCAS 

New Orleans; but this date happened to occur 
on a Sunday, and the time finally fixed upon 
was the day following, or Monday, January 9, 
1832. 

All through the fall and winter of 1831 the 
Democratic leaders were corresponding and mak- 
ing preparations for an enthusiastic convention. 
The Jacksonian members of the General Assem- 
bly of the State wrote to the leaders in the vari- 
ous counties urging them to hold county meetings 
and choose delegates to a State Convention. 
Lucas, before leaving home to take his seat in 
the legislature made arrangements to have dele- 
gates chosen in Pike and Jackson counties and 
wrote to his friends in Scioto and Lawrence 
counties urging them to do the same. On Mon- 
day, December 5, 1831, the General Assembly 
convened at Columbus. That same evening, 
after the meeting of the legislature, the friends 
of Jackson assembled and agreed unanimously to 
recommend to the Democratic Republicans that 
throughout the State county meetings be held 
for the purpose of choosing delegates to the 
State convention at Columbus. 

The fact that Lucas had headed the State 
ticket two years before made him a prominent 
figure in the forecasts of the convention. Dur- 
ing the first week in January, Isaac Humphreys 



STATE POLITICS 103 

of Washington County, a strong adherent of Lu- 
cas, wrote to him concerning the convention and 
by way of suggestion made this pointed remark: 
" Let the Gentleman nominated, or before nom- 
ination for Governor, be introduced and associate 
a little, with affability among the Delegates, with 
but little trouble and without lessening any Gen- 
tlemanly Dignity, much Good will be done." 
"I left my harvest," he continued, "cfe went to 
Columbus as a Delegate in 1830, & then formed 
an opinion, that if you had been there, & mixed 
in your frank, agreeable manner with the Dele- 
gates that it would have gone far to secure your 
Election, an object which I had much at heart." 
At the appointed time, on the 9th of January, 
this convention of the "fi'iends of the existing 
administration" met at Columbus. The purpose 
of the meeting was to nominate Democratic can- 
didates for Governor of the State and presiden- 
tial electors, and to organize the Democratic Re- 
publican party for an energetic and efficient cam- 
paign. A committee was given the task of pre- 
senting names to the convention for nomination. 
They reported in favor of General Robert Lucas, 
who was thereon chosen as the Democratic nom- 
inee for the office of Governor of Ohio. '-^ Thus 
the campaign was opened fully six months earlier 
than it had been at the preceding election for 



104 ROBERT LUCAS 

Governor. It was, however, a more important 
occasion. It was a presidential as well as a gu- 
bernatorial campaign; and a great anxiety was 
felt to carry every contest in the State of Ohio 
for the principles of Andrew Jackson and the 
party which he represented. It may also have 
been true that the leaders of the Democracy in 
the State were under the stress of New Year 
resolutions to retrieve their defeat of two years 
before. 



XI 

The Baltimore Convention 

To Kobert Lucas belongs the distinguished 
honor of presiding over the first national con- 
vention ever held by the Democratic party of 
the United States. In the campaign of 1832 
for the first time in the history of American pol- 
itics the various parties pursued the policy of 
holding national conventions to nominate candi- 
dates. The Congressional caucus had passed 
away, and the nomination by local legislatures 
and mass meetings failed to give the requisite 
backing for a party candidate. 

In September, 1831, the Anti Masons con- 
vened at Baltimore and placed in nomination 
for the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the 
United States, William Wirt and Amos Ell- 
maker respectively. Early in December there 
met in the same city a convention of National 
Republicans who with considerable enthusiasm 
nominated as their candidates, Henry Clay and 
John Sergeant. 

The plan for a nationial convention of the 



106 ROBERT LUCAS 

Democratic party was broaclied in May, 1831^ 
in a letter from William B. Lewis to Amos Ken- 
dall.'^^ Mr. Kendall was at that time visiting 
Ms friend Isaac Hill in New Hampshire. In 
this letter Lewis proposed a meeting in the fol- 
lowing May, at which the friends of the admin- 
istration could be brought together from all 
parts of the Union and harmony secured . n the 
campaign movements of the party. The sug- 
gestion was favorably received by Kendall and 
Hill ; and at their instance the Democratic mem- 
bers of the New Hampshire legislature held a 
convention which called a Democratic national 
convention to convene in Baltimore on the third 
Monday of May, 1832. 

Lewis in his letter to Kendall spoke of Bar- 
bour, Dickinson, and McLane as possibilities for 
vice presidential nomination; but did not in this 
connection mention Martin Van Buren. Whether 
this omission was a part of a general scheme 
in his favor or whether he was not then consid- 
ered for the place, it is perhaps useless to dis- 
cuss. But events so shaped themselves during 
the year that intervened before the final meeting 
of thQ convention that no other course than the 
nomination of Van Buren was possible. 

For some time Van Buren had been cherishing 
the hope of inheriting the presidential robe of 



THE BALTIMORE CONVENTION 107 

Andrew Jackson; and with this hope Jackson 
was fully in accord. The city of Washington 
was, however, in the year of 1831, hardly the 
place in which one could with complacency 
await such a legacy. The internal workings of 
the administration were anything but harmo- 
nious; and seemingly the only safe place for a 
political aspirant to avoid trouble was across the 
seas. 

Early in 1831 Jackson decided to remake his 
cabinet. On the 1 1th of April Martin Van Buren 
resigned his place as Secretary of State with the 
understanding that he was to be made Minister 
to the Court of St. James. In resigning he ad- 
mitted his candidacy for the office of President, 
and laid his resignation to the fact that a cabi- 
net minister with those ambitions would be open 
to the charge of manipulating politics to his own 
private ends. 

His resignation, which was accepted, was fol- 
lowed by the break up of the cabinet. Receiv- 
ing the appointment as Minister to England, 
Van Buren soon left for his new post. Congress, 
however, was not in session when the appoint- 
ment was made; and he arrived in Londo^i in 
September of 1831 without having had the action 
of President Jackson confirmed by the Senate. 

At the Court of St. James he entered upon a 



108 ROBERT LUCAS 

iield of work for which he was eminently fitted. 
His ngratiating manners and fascinating person- 
ality at once brought him friends and social en- 
joyments. He dined and banqueted with Eng- 
land's proudest sons. He learned to know 
many of the leading representatives of Europe. 
Prince Talleyrand, in his seventy-eighth year, 
was there representing Louis Philippe, the new 
King of France. The Duke of Wellington was 
there suffering an extreme unpopularity because 
of his stubborn resistance to the Reform Bill. 
And Sir Walter Scott was there on his way to 
Italy, broken in health, living with a pathetic 
bravery the last year of his life. At the Amer- 
ican Legation the new Minister found Washing- 
ton Irving, then stopping at London on his way 
from Spain. Forming an immediate friendship 
these two representatives of the Knickerbocker 
State toured through England in an open car- 
riage and visited the scenes of the Sketch Book?^ 
But Van Buren's enemies at home were not 
idle while he was thus enjoying himself. His 
nomination, sent by President Jackson to the 
Senate in December, was rejected on January 25th 
after a series of formal speeches by Webster, 
Olay, Hayne, and others condemning the late 
Secretary of State. The opponents of Van Buren 
calculating to a nicety the number they could 



THE BALTIMORE CONVENTION 109 

rely upon and knowing to a certainty the num- 
ber of Van Buren supporters, excused enough of 
their voters to allow Vice President Calhoun the 
extreme pleasure of casting, as President of the 
Senate, the decisive vote against his enemy. 
Thomas Benton in his Thirty Years in the 
United States Senate tells us that Calhoun after- 
wards remarked: "It will kill him, sir, kill him 
dead. He will never kick sir, never kick."^^ 

Never was a greater mistake made by a polit- 
ical faction. The rejection of Van Buren, so far 
from performing its purpose as a political poison 
became instead a most potent and healthful med- 
icine. Calhoun and his friends had overreached 
themselves. They had placed Van Buren in 
that uncomfortable but eminently advantageous 
position of a man publicly wronged. 

The news reached Van Buren as he was pre- 
paring to attend a party at Talleyrand's. It was 
a peculiarly humiliating situation, but he bore it 
with the greatest tact and dignity. He appeared 
at Talleyrand's with his usual composure and 
grace; and if all England had not already known 
of his rejection, they could not have read it in 
his face and actions. Thus he pursued the tenor 
of his official ways with undisturbed demeanor, 
attending social functions and making more 
friends in his adversity than he had made in the 



110 ROBERT LUCAS 

days of triumph. The inherent desire of Eng- 
lishmen to see fair play brought him the sym- 
pathy of the entire nation. 

Nor was this less true in the land of trans- 
planted Englishmen. The reaction against the 
movement of Calhoun, Clay, and Webster soon 
made itself felt in America; and it was every- 
where acknowledged that Martin Van Buren had, 
by that short-sighted blow, been thrust upon the 
people as the inevitable Vice Presidential nom- 
inee. Only by this compliment could his party 
defend him from the action of their enemies. 

On the 21st of May, 1832, when Martin Van 
Buren was touring the continent of Europe prior 
to his return to America, the first national Dem- 
ocratic convention met in Baltimore. '^^ It was 
distinctly a Vice Presidential convention. The 
candidacy of Jackson for President was not a 
matter of debate. It was a Jackson party; and 
he was so unquestionably their candidate that 
the discussion of a nominee for the Presidency 
would, under the circumstances, have appeared 
to the Democrats like an insult to their leader. 
For Vice President, however, there were several 
candidates, of whom the most prominent, aside 
from Van Buren, were Philip P. Barbour and 
Richard M. Johnson. At eleven o'clock Monday 
morning the convention assembled in the saloon 



THE BALTIMORE CONVENTION m 

of the Athenaeum. Delegations came from every 
State in the Union except Missouri. Among 
the delegates from the State of Ohio was Gen- 
eral Robert Lucas. 

Judge Overton of Tennessee had been agreed 
upon as the presiding officer of the convention. 
He had been a lifelong friend and supporter of 
Andrew Jackson, and had succeeded him as 
Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. Upon 
his name being proposed as chairman pro tem. 
however, his colleague John H. Eaton, Jackson's 
late Secretary of War, arose and remarked that 
Judge Overton was sick and unable to attend 
that morning; he thanked the convention for the 
honor conferred upon his friend, and closed his 
remarks by moving that General Robert Lucas 
of Ohio should be chosen chairman pro tem. in 
place of the Judge. The motion was unanimous- 
ly earned and Lucas was conducted to the chair. 

The first day of the convention passed in or- 
ganization and preliminaries. Tuesday morning 
the saloon of the Athenaeum was found too small 
to accommodate the convention and the members 
met in the Universalist church in St. Paul Street. 
Here the business of the convention began in 
earnest. Mr. King of Alabama, from the com- 
mittee appointed to nominate officers, presented 
the name of General Robert Lucas as permanent 



112 ROBERT LUCAS 

chairman. The nomination was approved by 
the convention and Lucas took the chair. After 
expressing his deep appreciation of the honor 
which they had bestowed upon him, he paid 
tribute to the party they represented, whose ob- 
ject was to preserve the pure principles of Re- 
publicanism and to secure to the people the free 
and uninfluenced enjoyment of their rights and 
privileges. He emphasized the importance of 
the session and the propriety of sacrificing all 
personal feelings and local preferences for the 
sake of the cause in which they were engaged, 
which was to preserve the harmony and advance 
the prosperity of the great Republican party 
throughout the Union. He expressed a con- 
sciousness of his inability to perform the duty 
assigned to him in a manner corresponding with 
his wishes; but feeling no doubt of the support 
and kindness of the convention, he accepted the 
appointment.'^^ 

The convention then proceeded to make rules 
concerning the conduct of business. In the morn- 
ing session that famous rule was adopted by 
which a two-thirds vote was made necessary for 
the choice of a candidate. After a short recess 
the members reassembled at twelve o'clock and 
took up the choice of a Vice Presidential candi- 
date. It was agreed that no nominations should 



THE BALTIMORE CONVENTION II3 

be made in convention; but that the States cast 
as many votes as they had presidential electors 
according to the new appointment, and continue 
the balloting until a selection was made. 
Only one ballot was necessary. Out of the two 
hundred eighty-three votes cast, Martin Van 
Buren received two hundred eight, Philip P. 
Barbour forty-nine, and Richard M. Johnson 
twenty-six.^8 Thus on the first ballot Van Buren 
received more than two-thirds of the votes. He 
was declared the candidate of the convention and 
unanimously recommended to the people of the 
United States as the Vice Presidential nominee 
of the Democratic party. 

On Wednesday morning the committee ap- 
pointed by President Lucas the preceding day 
to prepare an address to the people of the United 
States reported in favor of allowing each dele- 
gation to report to its constituents as it judged 
best, rather than formulating a national address. 
This suggestion allowing the individual States 
to fight out the campaign on their own lines was 
unanimously acceded to by the convention. 

Before adjourning Robert Lucas and the four 
Vice Presidents received the thanks of the con- 
vention for the prompt, impartial and dignified 
manner in which they had presided over its de- 
liberations.^^ It was then ordered that immedi- 



114 ROBERT LUCAS 

ately upon adjournment tlie members would pro- 
ceed to visit the venerable Charles Carroll, the 
only survivor of the signers of the Declaration 
of Independence. With prayer by the Reverend 
Mr. Wallace, the meeting ended and the Demo- 
cratic party closed with the greatest of harmony 
its first national convention. 

As President of the convention, Robert Lucas, 
together with the four Vice Presidents, drafted a 
letter on the 2 2d of May and sent it to Van 
Buren, announcing his nomination. Upon his 
return from Europe, Van Buren, on August 3, 
1832, replied from Kinderhook outlining his po- 
sition. He spoke particularly of the change 
that had come over affairs since his departure 
for England, and in the light of recent events, 
he cheerfully consented to come before the 
American people as a candidate for the office of 
Vice President of the United States. ^° 



XII 

Governor of Ohio 

Lucas returned to Ohio after his brief season 
of glory at Baltimore and plunged again into his 
own campaign for the Governorship, ^i From 
the first it was anticipated that Governor McAr- 
thur would be the candidate for the National 
Republicans, and preparations were made accord- 
ingly by the Democrats. Yet spring and early 
summer drifted by without definite action being 
taken to place McArthur before the people for 
reelection. Finally on the last day of June, 
1832, there appeared in the State Journal and 
Columbus Gazette the following item: "I have 
been waiting for some time to see the name of 
some suitable person announced in your paper 
to be suggested by the National Republicans of 
this state as their candidate for governor at the 
ensuing election." The writer then asked that 
Duncan McArthur be announced as a candidate 
to succeed himself. Accordingly, in the next 
issue of the paper appeared the name of General 
McArthur as a candidate against Lucas. 



116 ROBERT LUCAS 

Until September 15tli this announcement was 
continued in tlie columns of tlie State Journal. 
But on this date which was less than a month 
before the final election, a peculiar change oc- 
curred in the campaign of the Anti-Jacksonians. 
In the State Journal there appeared a letter, 
addressed by McArthur to the CoiTesponding 
Central Committe, withdrawing his name from 
the list of candidates "with the view of uniting 
all who are opposed to the reelection of General 
Jackson, upon some one candidate for the office 
of Governor." In another column of the same 
issue McArthur addressed a letter to the electors 
of the Seventh Congressional District, agreeing 
to become a candidate for Representative in Con- 
gress from that district (Eichard Douglas and 
William K. Bond having withdrawn in his fa- 
vor). Soon after, the name of Darius Lyman 
was announced as one on which all Anti-Jackson 
forces could unite in the campaign for the Gov- 
ernorship. 

The explanation of this shift of candidates is 
found in a coalition in the State of the forces 
opposed to Jackson. The Anti-Masonic party, 
at this time possessing considerable strength, 
had already nominated Darius Lyman as their 
candidate for Governor. They now agreed that, 
if the National Republicans would withdraw 



GOVERNOR OF OHIO 117 

McArtliur as a candidate for Governor and sup- 
port Lyman, the Anti-Masons would withdraw 
their electoral ticket and vote for the presiden- 
tial electors nominated by the National Repub- 
licans.'^^ 

Earlier in the campaign this combination 
might have been successful, but at this late date 
it was fatal. The strength of General Lucas 
was everywhere admitted; and a well planned, 
persistent campaign, together with the prestige 
he had won as chairman of the Baltimore Con- 
vention, brought him the undivided support of 
the Democrats. 

A few days before the election the Cohnnlms 
Sentinel came out with an appeal to the Demo- 
cratic voters. "Look for a moment", it urged, 
"at the Opposition Ticket. It is as specMedas 
an adder. The venomous viper lies coiled he- 
hind the hush to make you its prey. A striped 

TRI-COLOURED, FEDERAL, CLAY, ANTI MASON Tick- 
et has been got up against us and the Jackson 
party are called upon to march up to the work 
set before them. They can, they will give this 
chamelion this I)east of many spots^ his death 
blow."83 And they did. The dilatory, unsys- 
tematic policy of the opposition had brought de- 
feat and a change of administration. The elec- 
tion occurred on the 9th of October; and General 



118 ROBERT LUCAS 

Robert Lucas with a majority of over eight 
thousand votes was chosen the ninth Governor 
of the State of Ohio. It is worthy of notice 
that although Lucas was elected by such a large 
majority, the Anti- Jackson candidates for Con- 
gress received an aggregate vote greater by about 
^ve thousand than that given to the Jackson 
candidates.^^ 

Li the Seventh District the contest for Repre- 
sentative in Congress was a remarkable one. 
When General McArthur withdrew from the 
race for the Governorship and entered the race 
for Congress he encountered as his opponent a 
young man of twenty-six named William Allen. 
Foity-two years later, after winning national dis- 
tinction in both Houses of Congress, Allen be- 
came Governor of the State of Ohio; but at this 
time he was at the beginning of his career, a 
staunch Democrat and a firm friend of Robert 
Lucas. 

The contest was close, and for weeks after 
election day the result was doubtful, the two 
parties living in alternate hopes and fears. AVhen 
the decision was finally made William Allen was 
declared elected with a majority of one vote, 
having received 3738 votes, while for McArthur 
there were exactly 3737 ballots. 

The defeated veteran shortly after retired from 



GOVERNOR OF OHIO 119 

public life and settled down at his country home 
at Fruit Hill to reflect over his long and honor- 
able career in the service of the public. Many 
years later William Allen, having married a 
daughter of General McArthur, came into the 
possession of Fruit Hill and spent his later days 
in the home of his sometime opponent. 

Governor Lucas was inaugurated on the 7th 
of December, 1832, and delivered on that occa- 
sion an address which is worthy of notice in three 
particulars. First, he laid great stress upon the 
encouragement of education, particularly the 
system of free public schools. Then he pressed 
upon the legislature the great need of revising 
the militia law. This was a subject to which he 
was never indifferent, and to which he pays 
tribute in these words: "The militia is the dread 
of tyrants and the guard of freemen. They are 
the strong arm of national defense, and are the 
first resort, in case of hostilities." In the third 
place his inaugural address is noticeable for its 
comment on Nullification. He says: "The doc- 
trine of Nullification (as it is called) that has 
been zealously and no doubt seriously asserted 
by many eminent politicians in South Carolina, 
I believe to be without the support of constitu- 
tional authority, dangerous in its consequences 



120 ROBERT LUCAS 

and if adopted, would lead to anarcliy, and the 
ultimate dissolution of the Union." 

The Governor of Ohio in those days was by 
no means the prominent and powerful figure that 
he is to-day. Indeed, the government under the 
first State Constitution may be characterized as an 
over-strong legislature with executive and judicial 
appendages. The prerogatives of the one and 
the appointment of the other were in the hands 
of the Senate and House of Representatives. 
This condition of affairs was the result of a re- 
action against the power of the executive in Ter- 
ritorial days. General Arthur St. Clair had been 
Governor of the Northwest Territory for a period 
of fifteen years; but his term of ofiice was not as 
successful as it was long. An imperious temper, 
an unfortunate stubbornness of disposition, and 
an unwarranted conceit in his power as a civil 
administrator brought misfortune to his career 
and final removal from ofiice in 1802 by Presi- 
dent Jefferson. An Englishman by birth and 
all his life a soldier, he had, in his long experi- 
ence as an ofi&cer, come to forget that an Amer- 
ican body politic can not be governed by the 
same methods as a frontier army. There was 
no lack of sincerity in the man, but there was a 
great lack of wisdom and tact. And so mistakes 
and blunders characterize the life of this patriot 



GOVERNOR OF OHIO 121 

whose good intentions far exceeded those of 
nmny men of greater success/'' 

Ey the Northwest Ordinance tlie Governor 
was made part of the legishitive department, and 
no bill could become a law without his assent. 
Governor 8t. Clair, ]jy his use of the veto p(jwer 
and his assumption of executive authority in the 
organization of new counties, liad aroused a great 
deal of Ijitterness wliich, intensified by other 
acts, engendered an intense hostility among the 
legislators. When the time came for the State 
of Ohio to be carved out of the Northwest Tc^rri- 
tory and the Convention of 1802 met to construct 
a State Constitution, tliere was worked out a 
plan of government in evident dread of executive 
power. It took away from the Governor en- 
tirely the j^ower of veto and turned over pi'ac 
tically all appointments to the legislators, thus 
burdening that department with an enormous 
and dangerous patronage. 

The Governor remained Commander in Chief 
of the State Militia, which to Robert Lucas 
proved an important consideration. But aside 
from tliis tliere remained to the Governor, when 
he took an inventory of his prerogatives, only 
the thankless task of pardoning criminals and 
the a])pointment of notaries and a few other 
minor officers.^'' When we consider that the 



122 ROBERT LUCAS 

salary was limited by constitution and statute to 
11000 we are inclined to look upon the incum- 
bent as tlie responsible tenant of an empty office. 
Yet the office was one of honor, and on certain 
occasions carried with it some little power; and 
never was there a lack of candidates. 

To Governor Lucas the power to grant re- 
prieves and pardons was not an unalloyed bless- 
ing. If he pardoned, he aroused a bitter storm 
of wrath from the citizens of the convict's dis- 
trict; if he did not pardon, he encountered like 
wrath from the friends of the abused law-breaker. 
One of the first official acts of Governor Lucas 
was to pardon a convict named Asher, from Co- 
shocton County. This was in December, 1832, 
the first month of his term of office; and from 
then on for several months he was subjected to 
a series of denunciatory letters, anonymous and 
otherwise, censuring his action. On the other 
hand interesting communications of this nature 
were sometimes received at the executive office: 

Muskingum County^? 

^, -^ ^ Ohio May 1833 

Mr Robert Lucas 

Sir 

I have taken this plan of informing you that Col. 

Gault has abused an old friend of mine who is now a 

prisoner under his controle. The gentlemans name is. 

William Thompson 



GOVERNOR OF OHIO 123 

My wish is that he receive his pardon by the first day 
of August 1833. Should he not be pardoned by that 
time I shall be under the necessity of calling at your 
plantation and if I do you may expect to see lire and 
smoke more plentiful on your plantation than it has 
been for some time. 

A word to the wise is a plenty 

an injured and determined man 
Robert Lucas 

The first term of Robert Lucas, aside from 
these minor incidents, passed rather uneventfully . 
These years were years of great progress for 
Ohio in the way of internal improvements. 
Roads were being laid out, railways j^lanned, and 
work on the State canals pushed with great en- 
thusiasm. Many executive duties incidental to 
the carrying on of these public works fell to the 
Governor and occupied a large part of his time. 

In his annual message to the General Assem- 
bly in December, 1833, he dwelt largely upon 
the matter of internal improvement, emphasizing 
the canal construction and the improvement of 
the National Road. He also favored a State 
Bank and constant organization and develop- 
ment of the militia system. 

The peaceful years of a nation or State may 
test the worth of public officials as truly as years 
of crises and alarms. It was in this uneventful 
first term that Governor Lucas proved his abil- 



124 ROBERT LUCAS 

ity as a careful and competent executive. His 
diligence in tlie performance of administrative 
duties was particularly noticed by his contem 
poraries. In a biography of Allen G. Thur 
man, who was for some time the private sec 
retary of Governor Lucas, we are told that 
the Governor was wont to be in his office at 
eight o'clock in the morning; and there he and 
his secretary remained until eight o'clock at 
night performing the innumerable duties that 
were necessary in the executive office of a great 
State.8'^ 

As the summer of 1834 drew on, thoughts of 
election began to fill the minds of the politicians. 
Lucas again became the candidate of the Jackson 
forces for the Governorship.^^ The opposition 
combined on James Findlay. During the War 
of 1812 Findlay had been one of the three Col- 
onels commanding the Ohio militia. Although 
he had had little experience in public office in 
the State of Ohio he had represented the first Con- 
gressional District of that State in the JN'ational 
House of Representatives for four successive 
terms. The campaign was as usual attended 
with more or less of the personal attacks. In 
one district the story was circulated that Lucas 
had "pardoned a convict, furnished a thousand 
dollars to set him and a crop-eared Irishman up, 



GOVERNOR OF OHIO 125 

as printers of a party newspaper". The Anti- 
Jackson men, led by Jacob Burnet, Cavalry Mor- 
ris, and others, strenuously opposed the reelec- 
tion of Lucas; but to no avail. Lucas was vic- 
torious with about three thousand majority; and 
on December 8, 1834, was inaugurated in the 
presence of the two houses of the General 
Assembly. 



XIII 

The Ohio-Michigan Boundary 

The second term of Robert Lucas as Governor 
of Oliio is largely the story of the Northern 
Boundary Dispute and its settlement, the tale of 
the memorable Toledo War, with its exciting 
muster of armies, its humorous incidents, and its 
final peaceful determination by Congress. The 
controversy over the boundary line between the 
State of Ohio and the Territory of Michigan 
was of such a complex nature that it would be 
unwise in a limited space to attempt to more 
than state clearly the general points of dispute 
and trace briefly the course of Ohio's Governor 
in upholding the claims of his State. ^^ 

The story of the controversy takes us back to 
the Ordinance of 1787, which provides for the 
organization and government of the Northwest 
Territory. This document mentions a geograph- 
ical line which for half a century thereafter was 
the basis of dispute and misunderstanding. The 
Ordinance provided for the creation of not less 
than three nor more than five States to be ulti- 



THE OHIO-MICHIGAN BOUNDARY 127 

mately carved out of the Northwest Territory. 
In case only three States were created, the terri- 
torial line between Canada and the United States 
was made the northern boundary. To this, 
however, was added the proviso "that the bound- 
aries of these three States shall be subject so far 
to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter 
find it expedient, they shall have authority to 
form one or two States in that part of the said 
territory which lies north of an east and west line 
drawn through the southerly bend or extreme 
of Lake Michigan." It was this "east and west 
line" over which a State and a Temtory so 
nearly came to blows. 

The map used by the Congressional committee 
in drawing up the Northwest Ordinance was one 
published by Mitchell in 1755. This map (as 
was the case with most maps of that time) was 
very inaccurate in regard to the relative positions 
of the Great Lakes. According to it a line drawn 
due east from the southerly extreme of Lake 
Michigan would strike Lake Erie several miles 
north of the mouth of the Maumee River, or, as 
it was then called, Miami of the Lake.^^ As a 
matter of fact a true geographical line east from 
this point would enter Lake Erie some distance 
south of the Maumee, emerging again to pass 
through the northern counties of Ohio and thence 



128 ROBERT LUCAS 

strike tlie western boundary of the State of 
Pennsylvania. But at this time the mistake in 
the maps was not dreamed of, and the framers 
of the Northwest Ordinance fixed the line with 
the evident understanding that it would pass 
north of the mouth of the Maumee River. 

For fifteen years the mistake remained undis- 
covered. By 1802 the territory that is now 
Ohio had grown in population sufiiciently to en- 
title it to admission into the Union, and on 
April 30th of that year Congress passed an act 
authorizing the people to form a State Constitu- 
tion. In this enabling act Congress, in describ- 
ing the northern boundary of the proposed 
State practically reaffirmed the line designated 
in the Northwest Ordinance. In the fall a con- 
vention met at Chillicothe to form a State 
Constitution to be submitted for the approval 
of Congress. 

During the course of the convention an old 
trapper from the northwest appeared upon the 
scene and brought the disquieting information 
that the east and west line, so long accepted and 
understood as terminating north of the Maumee 
would in reality cut far south of that point and 
exclude from the proposed State a valuable strip 
of country including the mouth of the Maumee 
River. ^^ In view of this fact the convention 



THE OHIO-MICHIGAN BOUNDARY 129 

added this proviso to their acceptance of the 
northern boundary line as designated by the en- 
abling act: 

Provided always, and it is hereby fully understood 
and declared by this convention, that if the southerly 
bend or extreme of Lake Michigan should extend so far 
south that a line drawn due east from it should not in- 
tersect Lake Erie or if it should intersect the said Lake 
Erie east of the mouth of the Miami River of the lake, 
then and in that case with the assent of the Congress of 
the United States, the northern boundary of this state 
shall be established by, and extend to, a direct line run- 
ning from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan 
to the most northerly cape of the Miami Bay, after in- 
tersecting the due north line from the mouth of the 
Great Miami River as aforesaid, thence northeast to 
the territorial line, and, by the said territorial line, to 
the Pennsylvania line. 93 

On November 29, 1802, the Constitution was 
adopted by the convention. Ohio was recognized 
by Congress as a State in the Union without 
mention of the boundary line, thus giving, as 
Ohio claimed, tacit consent to the provisional 
clause. Three years later Michigan Territory 
was organized; and Congress, ignoring the pro- 
viso in the Ohio Constitution, gave to the new 
Territory as its southern boundary the line orig- 
inally designated in the Northwest Ordinance 
and reaffirmed in the enabling act for the State 
of Ohio. 



130 ROBERT LUCAS 

The attitude of Congress toward the proviso 
is not difficult to see. The proviso availed noth- 
ing until two things happened: first, it must be 
shown that the east and west line did not inter- 
sect Lake Erie or that it intersected the Lake 
east of the mouth of the Maumee; and secondly, 
even after that point had been shown, the assent 
of Congress was necessary before the line to the 
north cape of Miami Bay should be established. 
Thus, until a survey should show the required 
condition and furthermore until Congress should 
assent to the change, the boundary was evidently 
that which had been stated in the Ordinance, in 
the enabling act for the admission of Ohio, in 
the Constitution of Ohio itself (excluding the 
proviso), and in the act organizing the Territory 
of Michigan — in other words, an east and west 
line from the southerly bend of Lake Michigan 
to Lake Erie. 

The people of Ohio appreciated the strength 
of this reasoning sufficiently to make repeated 
efforts to induce Congress to act upon their pro- 
viso.^^ Their efforts resulted in the passage of 
an act by Congress on May 20, 1812, ordering 
the Surveyor General to run and re-mark the 
northern boundary of the State. So far from 
carrying into effect the proviso, however, it re- 
quired the survey to be made "agreeably to the 



THE OHIO-MICHIGAN BOUNDARY 131 

boundaries established by the act entitled 'An 
act to enable the people of the eastern division 
of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to 
form a constitution and state government . . . . ' 
passed April thirtieth, 0)ie thousand eight hun- 
dred and two; and to cause to be made a plat or 
plan of so much of the boundary line as runs 
from the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan 
to Lake Erie, particularly noting the place where 
the said line intersects the margin of said lake, 
and to return the same when made to Congress." 
This meant the running of the east and west 
line and the location of the point where it en- 
tered Lake Erie. It was the first step necessary 
to the execution of the provisional clause of the 
Ohio State Constitution. The opening of the 
War of 1812, however, and the trouble with the 
Indians of that region prevented the immediate 
execution of this act, and it was not until 1817 
that the survey was finally made. In that year 
under the direction of Surveyor General Tiffin, of 
Ohio, William Harris surveyed a line presum- 
ably in accordance with the act of 1812. What 
he did in reality was to run a line from the north 
cape of Miami Bay toward the southerly extreme 
of Lake Michigan as far as the western boundary 
line of the State of Ohio.^^ In other words he 
surveyed the line called for in the proviso of the 



132 ROBERT LUCAS 

Ohio State Constitution instead of the east and 
west line. 

The line thus surveyed was henceforth known 
as the "Harris Line", and it represented the 
boundary as claimed by Ohio. When the report 
of the survey by Harris was made to the United 
States authorities exceptions were taken to the 
line as run by him; and so the Secretary of the 
Treasury ordered the Commissioner of the Gen- 
eral Land Office to have the northern boundary 
of Ohio run and marked in conformity to the 
provisioiis of the act of the 20th of May^ 1812, 
In 1818 this order was earned out by John A. 
Fulton, and the line thus surveyed was known 
as the "Fulton Line". It approximated the east 
and west line mentioned in the Ordinance of 
1787 and formed the boundary as claimed by the 
Territory of Michigan. Between these two lines 
lay a strip extending entirely across the northern 
boundary of Ohio west of Lake Erie, and vary- 
ing in width from about five miles at the west 
end to nearly eight miles at the east end. This 
strip, although claimed by both Ohio and Mich- 
igan, was as a matter of fact under the jurisdic- 
tion and laws of the Territory of Michigan. 

By the running of the Fulton line it was 
proved that the location of the east and west 
line was in accordance with the condition stated 



THE OHIO-MICHIGAN BOUNDARY 133 

in the proviso, namely; that it would strike Lake 
Erie south of Miami Bay. Only the second 
step, the assent of Congress, lay between the 
Ohio people and their coveted northern boundary. 
But this assent, though petitioned for time and 
again, was not granted by Congress. 

Thus for some time the controversy over the 
strip of territory remained unsettled. The dis- 
trict was sparsely populated and the inhabitants 
did not feel a great deal of concern over the un- 
certainty of their allegiance. But as years went 
on and the population increased the disputed jur- 
isdiction became a question of more importance. 
The proposed completion of one of the Ohio 
canals was the immediate event which precipi- 
tated the trouble. 

Since 1825 Ohio had been trying to accom- 
modate the construction of a canal from the Ohio 
River at Cincinnati to the navigable waters of 
the Maumee. In 1834 the construction had pro- 
gressed only as far as Piqua in Miami County. 
It was now proposed to complete the canal to the 
Maumee River thus connecting Cincinnati with 
Lake Erie. It had been intended to place the 
terminus of the canal at the foot of the rapids 
of the Maumee; but it was now ascertained that 
Toledo, at the mouth of the river, was more 
suitable for a terminus than Maumee or Perrys- 



134 ROBERT LUCAS 

burg. This, however, would leave the end of 
the canal in the disputed tract. Such a possibil- 
ity was enough to convince the people at the 
mouth of the Maumee River that their allegiance 
was due to Ohio.^^ Many of the most prominent 
citizens of Toledo at once petitioned Governor 
Lucas to extend the laws of the State of Ohio 
over them. 

When the General Assembly of Ohio met in 
December, 1834, Governor Lucas laid the Mich- 
igan matter before the members in his annual 
message. On February 6, 1835, he sent a special 
message to the legislature advising them to pass 
a law extending the northern counties of Wil- 
liams, Henry, and AVood to the line known as 
the Harris Line.^^ In this special message Gov- 
ernor Lucas outlined clearly the grounds upon 
which Ohio stood in the matter. He emphasized 
very strongly the fact that the controversy, if 
there was a controversy, was not one between the 
State of Ohio and the Territory of Michigan, 
but between the State of Ohio and the United 
States. This, indeed, was the basic principle in 
the mind of Governor Lucas throughout the dis- 
cussion. Michigan, being only a Territory had 
no sovereign rights and no power to participate 
in a controversy with one of the sovereign States 
of the Union. Moreover, the feeling in favor of 



THE OHIO-MICHIGAN BOUNDARY 135 

State Sovereignty was at this time very strong 
and Governor Lucas as the executive of one of 
the most prominent States in the Union was a 
firm believer in the dignity and sovereignty of 
the individual States, even though he was as 
strongly opposed to the doctrine of nullification. 

At the time he sent his special message to the 
legislature in February, Lucas did not, however, 
admit that there was any question at issue as to 
the boundaries. He held that the proviso in the 
State Constitution was assented to by Congress 
when Ohio was admitted into the Union, and 
that the line mentioned in the proviso was, 
therefore, the legal and indisputable northern 
boundary of Ohio. He adverted also to the en- 
abling act for the admission of Ohio in 1802 in 
which the boundary line was designated as an 
'^ east and west line, drawn through the southerly 
extremity of Lake Michigan, running east until 
it shall intersect Lake Erie or the territorial line; 
thence with the same through Lake Erie to the 
Pennsylvania Line." This he claimed to be an 
impossible line because it would pass too far 
south to ever intersect the territorial line. 

The belief of Governor Lucas in the active 
force of the proviso and the validity of the Har- 
ris Line as the northern boundary of the State 
was shared by the General Assembly; and on 



136 ROBERT LUCAS 

the 23d of February an act was passed, accord- 
ing to the suggestion of Lucas, extending the 
jurisdiction of the northern counties as far as the 
Harris Line. The act also required the Govern- 
or to appoint commissioners to run and re-mark 
the Harris Line. 

The action of the Territory of Michigan, mean- 
while, was not less determined. The Legislative 
Council on February 12, 1835, anticipated the 
action of the Ohio legislature and passed an act 
^'to prevent the exercise of foreign jurisdiction 
within the limits of the Territory of Michi- 
gan". ^^ Thus it was evident that both Ohio and 
Michigan considered the strip as part of their 
own territory and regarded the other as the 
aggressor. 

In the spring of 1835 elections were held in 
the disputed tract in accordance with the act of 
the Ohio General Assembly. On April 2d Gov- 
ernor Lucas arrived at Perrysburg with commis- 
sioners who had been appointed to run and re- 
mark the Hams Line.^^ At Penysburg also 
gathered the troops of the Ohio militia (enlist- 
ing under General Bell), until about six hundred 
had been mustered and gone into camp at old 
Fort Miami. 

The Acting Governor of Michigan Territory 
at this time was Stevens T. Mason, a young 



THE OHIO-MICHIGAN BOUNDARY 137 

Virginian under twenty-one years of age.^^ An 
ardent spirit dominated this youth, and he was 
not slow in taking measures to guard the Terri- 
tory of Michigan against what he termed the 
aggressions of Ohio. About the time Governor 
Lucas reached Perrysburg, just below the dis- 
puted tract, Governor Mason accompanied by 
General Joseph W. Brown and about a thousand 
troops arrived at Toledo. ^^^ Here there con- 
fronted one another across the line the Govern- 
or of scarce twenty years and the veteran of 
over a half century. And behind each was an 
army as determined as its leader. Surely unless 
some intervention occurred the next step was 
war. 



XIV 

The Toledo War 

While affairs on the border were assuming this 
warlike aspect, the United States government 
at Washington was not asleep. President Jack- 
son had become sufficiently alarmed by the con- 
ditions in the west to dispatch two Commission- 
ers to confer with Governor Lucas and Governor 
Mason and further the appeals already made to 
these gentlemen by the Federal Government to 
refrain from violence and bring the matter to a 
peaceful conclusion. The Commissioners were 
Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, and Benjamin 
C. Howard, of Maryland. They were accom- 
panied by Elisha Whittlesey, the Congressman 
from the 16th Ohio district, as a voluntary peace- 
maker. The Commissioners reached Perry sburg 
on the evening of the 6th of April, 1835, and on 
the next day held a conference with Governor 
Lucas. After mutual discussion the following 
agreement was reached :^^^ 

First. That the Harris Line should be run 
and re-marked pursuant to the act of the last 



THE TOLEDO WAR I39 

session of the legislature of Ohio without inter- 
ruption. 

Second. That the civil elections under the 
laws of Ohio having taken place throughout the 
disputed territory, the people residing upon it 
should be left to their own government, obeying 
the one jurisdiction or the other, as they might 
prefer, without molestation from the authorities 
of Ohio or Michigan until the close of the next 
session of Congress. 

It is important to remember that Lucas held 
that it was only with the United States that the 
State of Ohio could carry on negotiations and 
that with the Territory of Michigan he had noth- 
ing to do.^^^ The Territorial officers were ap- 
pointed by the Federal government and amen- 
able only to the authority of that government. 
With this view in mind Lucas believed that an 
agreement entered into with Commissioners ap- 
pointed by the President of the United States 
was perfectly legal and binding, regardless of 
what action the Territory of Michigan might 
take in regard to the matter. That Territory, 
however, led by the impetuous Acting Governor 
Mason repudiated the terms made with the Com- 
missioners, and refused to abide by them. Ar- 
rests and prosecutions by the Michigan authori- 
ties in the disputed tract were carried on with 



140 ROBERT LUCAS 

increased vigor in accordance with the act of the 
1 2th of February. Some time later it transpired 
that the Commissioners had authority only to 
confer, not to make agreements; but at the time 
the terms were made this power was not ques- 
tioned. 

The agreement involved simply a cessation of 
any attempt on the part of either State or Ter- 
ritory to enforce jurisdiction until Congress had 
a chance to pass upon the matter. In addition 
to this, permission was granted to Ohio to run 
and re-mark the Harris Line. These terms seem 
eminently reasonable. It was evident from the 
condition of affairs and the attitude taken by 
both Ohio and Michigan that only a competent 
third party could satisfactorily decide the ques- 
tion. Then, too. Congress had many years be- 
fore admitted Ohio as a State with the proviso 
that, under certain circumstances, the line now 
known as the Harris Line should be made their 
border. It was, then, only just that this line 
should be clearly ascertained for the benefit of 
Congress in the consideration and settlement of 
the question. 

The contention of Governor Lucas on behalf 
of the State of Ohio that the proviso was already 
in force and that the Harris Line was thereby 
the established northern boundary of Ohio was 



THE TOLEDO WAR 141 

probably ill-founded and not capable of proof; 
but Lucas, as the legal representative of his 
State, was in a way acting as an attorney for his 
State before the tribunal of the Federal Govern- 
ment. It seems probable that Michigan had, 
from the legal point of view, the burden of the 
evidence on her side. It was clearly evident 
that President Jackson was fully convinced of 
the soundness of the claims of the Territory of 
Michigan^^ and it would seem that her wisest 
course would have been to acquiesce in the terms 
of the agreement and submit the matter to Con- 
gress for settlement. 

But the people of Michigan were fearful — and 
perhaps with reason — that the great political in- 
fluence of the State of Ohio would unduly affect 
the action of Congress and work to their disad- 
vantage. This contingency appealed too strong- 
ly to the young and headstrong Governor to 
permit of his acquiescence, and so he continued 
his policy of encouraging the prosecutions in the 
disputed tract under the act of February 12th. 

The attitude of Governor Mason was, perhaps, 
influenced in a large measure by an opinion given 
by Attorney General Benjamin F. Butler in an- 
swer to a request of President Jackson. ^^^ But- 
ler took a position favorable to the claims of 
Michigan, holding that, until Congress should 



142 ROBERT LUCAS 

give assent to the boundary as designated in the 
proviso to the Ohio Constitution, the disputed 
tract must be considered as belonging to Mich- 
igan. The Michigan authorities made this the 
basis for their ignoring the terms of the Com- 
missioners, and arrests went on as before. 

Governor Lucas, proceeding in accordance 
with the terms of the agreement, disbanded the 
army under General Bell and directed the sur- 
veying party to begin the survey of the Harris 
Line. Starting at the northwest corner of the 
State the Commissioners began their line and 
proceeded toward the north cape of Maumee 
Bay. When they crossed the line, however, in- 
to Lenawee County the under sheriff of that 
county advanced upon them in company with 
General Brown and a 2^osse comitatus with a 
warrant for the arrest of the entire party. Sev- 
eral of the party were captured, but the Com- 
missioners fled precipitately through the woods 
in undignified haste to the fastnesses of Ohio, 
where they reported to Governor Lucas that they 
had been attacked by General Brown and a force 
of militia and had ''thought it prudent to re- 
tire".!'^^ 

This episode created considerable excitement 
throughout the State of Ohio. The majority of 
the newspapers upheld Governor Lucas, but here 



THE TOLEDO WAR 143 

and there a few of the opposition organs em- 
braced the opportunity to arraign his conduct. 
The war spirit everywhere ran high, and even 
from Philadelphia there came late in May a 
frenzied letter signed "Buckeye" urging the 
Governor to delay not one moment, but to "wipe 
out with blood" the insult the Michiganians 
had put upon the State. He had but to say the 
word and there was not a single Buckeye that 
would hesitate to "follow him through blood to 
their eyes".^^"^ Such sanguinary advice was, 
however, tempered by the counsel of more con- 
servative spirits, who were as unbending in their 
loyalty to their State and in their support of its 
executive, yet were more sane in their patriotism. 
The Ohio delegation in congress were as valiant 
in the defense of the rights of Ohio as was Lu- 
cas. Letters from Robert T. Lytle, Thomas L. 
Hamer and others kept the Governor informed 
of the progress of affairs at Washington and of 
the support he might expect from the Ohio del- 
egation. ^^^ 

In view of the critical aspect of affairs. Gov- 
ernor Lucas called a special session of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Ohio, to meet June 8, 1835. 
This was the first time in the history of Ohio 
that a special session had been called by the 
Governor of the State. Twice before extra ses- 



144 ROBERT LUCAS 

sions had been held; but in both cases the Gen- 
eral Assembly had been convened in pursuance 
of a joint resolution passed at a regular ses- 

sion.109 

When the General Assembly convened the 
Governor accompanied his special message with 
many documents, official and otherwise, throw- 
ing light upon the controversy. ^^° The legisla- 
ture agreed to accept the terms proposed by 
Commissioners Rush and Howard, and appro- 
priated $300,000 for carrying into effect laws re- 
garding the northern boundary. A new county, 
moreover, was erected out of the disputed tract 
and named Lucas in honor of the Governor of 
the State. 

Soon after the adjournment of the extra ses- 
sion, Governor Lucas appointed three commis- 
sioners (N. H. Swayne, W. Allen, and D. T. 
Disney) to go to Washington and lay the facts 
before the President of the United States. ^^^ 
They proposed to President Jackson the execu- 
tion of the terms agreed upon with the Commis- 
sioners on condition that the actions brought by 
the authorities of Michigan in the disputed tract 
under the act of February 12, 1835, be discon- 
tinued. The President promised to make an 
earnest recommendation to Governor Mason of 
the Territory of Michigan that no obstruction 



THE TOLEDO WAR 145 

should be interposed to the marking of the Har- 
ris Line, that prosecutions growing out of the 
act mentioned be discontinued and no further 
proceedings begun, and that all discussion of 
questions regarding the boundary be postponed 
till after the next session of Congress. He did 
so, but it had little effect upon the Acting Gov- 
ernor of Michigan who pursued his way as be- 
fore. This overzealousness on the part of Mason 
resulted in his removal from office by the Presi- 
dent on August 29th and the appointment of 
Charles Shaler. Shaler, however, declined to ac- 
cept the position, whereupon John S. Horner 

was appointed as Acting Governor of the Terri- 
tory.^12 

The act which created Lucas County provided 
for the holding of court in Toledo, the seat of 
justice in that county, on the seventh of Sep- 
tember. This was a somewhat difficult propo- 
sition inasmuch as it was sure to be resisted by 
Michigan. Governor Lucas, moreover, was fully 
cognizant by this time of the fact that further 
forcible aggression on the part of Ohio would be 
met by United States troops. However, he was 
determined the court should be held to establish 
jurisdiction in that region — and held it was. 
The judges under a small guard of militia en- 
tered the town unknown to the Michigan troops 

10 



146 ROBERT LUCAS 

gathered there, held court sometime between 
midnight and the dawn of the 7th of September 
and withdrew again to Maumee in safety. 

Content with this exercise of authority, Gov- 
ernor Lucas desisted from further attempt to en- 
force jurisdiction. In November the Harris 
Line was run peacefully, and quiet reigned once 
more upon the disputed tract, while all parties 
waited for the action of Congress. John S. Hor. 
ner, Acting Governor of the Territory of Michi- 
gan, arrived at the scene of his new duties and 
entered upon a career in which he made a sorry 
figure. 

Although Congress had refused to admit Mich- 
igan until the boundary line was settled, the 
people had organized a State government, elect- 
ed Stevens T. Mason as Governor and proceeded 
to exercise the functions of a State without 
authorization or recognition from the United 
States government. The great majority of the 
people supported the State Governor, Mason; 
while the authorized Territorial Acting Govern- 
or, Horner, received little else than sneers. He 
soon retired fuming with impotent rage to the 
wilds of the Territory beyond Lake Michigan. 
From here he showered imprecations upon all 
concerned with the State Government of Michi- 
gan. ^^^ 



THE TOLEDO WAR 147 

Congress met in December, 1835, and to its 
consideration were submitted for decision two 
questions: the admission of the State of Michi- 
gan, and the settlement of the northern boundary 
of the State of Ohio. The State of Michigan, 
although as yet unrecognized, sent to Washing- 
ton as its Senators, Lucius Lyon and John Nor- 
vell, and as its member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, Isaac Crary. The claims of the peo- 
ple of Michigan were warmly advocated by the 
venerable John Quincy Adams in the House and 
by Thomas Hart Benton in the Senate. Ohio 
of course relied upon its own Senators and Rep- 
resentatives to bear the brunt of the contest. 
Thomas Ewing in the Senate, and Samuel Vin- 
ton and Thomas L. Hamer in the House gallant- 
ly contended for the cause of their State and op- 
posed the admission of Michigan except with 
the Harris Line as its southern boundary. For 
months the contest was carried on, until finally 
as the session was drawing to a close a bill was 
passed combining the two measures and provid- 
ing for the admission of Michigan as a State by 
proclamation of the President of the United 
States whenever the people accepted in conven- 
tion the southern boundary as claimed by Ohio. 
As a recompense to Michigan for the relinquish- 
ment of the disputed Territory, the new State 



148 ROBERT LUCAS 

was given a large tract of land north and west 
of Lake Michigan. 

Throughout the discussion, the delegations of 
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were unanimous in 
their support of Ohio's claim. It has been said 
that political influences largely controlled the 
decision of Congress. Perhaps this is so. The 
Democracy would not be benefitted by the elec- 
toral votes of Michigan if she thereby lost those 
of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Yet there were 
other considerations. Ohio needed Toledo as a 
terminus for the Miami Canal and as an addi- 
tional lake port. Ohio had only the southern 
shore of Lake Erie while Michigan was practi- 
cally surrounded by lakes. But back of all the 
controversy was the reiterated claim of Ohio 
that the framers of the Northwest Ordinance in 
designating the east and west line as the future 
border did it with the evident understanding 
that it would pass north of the mouth of the 
Miami of the Lake, or Maumee River, and that 
when Congress passed the enabling act for the 
admission of the State of Ohio the same under 
standing prevailed. Congress then, in 1836, 
simply restored the spirit of that venerable doc- 
ument, the Ordinance of 1787. 

But the passage of the Act of Congress in the 
summer of 1836 did not settle the question. It 



THE TOLEDO WAR 149 

but transferred its discussion to the people of 
Michigan. Here for months controv^ersy waxed 
strong as to whether the State should stay out 
of the Union in dignified loneliness, or accede to 
the terms, accept what had been so long con- 
tended against, and enter the Union of States. 

In September a convention called by the State 
legislature refused to accept the terms. ^^* Agi- 
tation in the State continued, and on the four- 
teenth of December, 1836, a convention called 
through the instrumentality of the newspapers 
met at Ann Arbor. This meeting, irregularly 
convened and styled in derision the "Frost Bit- 
ten Convention", declared assent to the terms of 
Congress and sent a notification to that effect to 
the President of the United States. President 
Jackson, instead of issuing his proclamation as 
instructed returned the matter to Congress. Here 
again the discussion w^aged warm, this time over 
the legality of the assenting convention. Fin- 
ally on January 26, 1837, Michigan with the 
Harris Line as her southern border was admitted 
to Statehood and the border difficulty which had 
for so many years racked men's minds w^as at 
last settled in peace and amity. 



XV 

1836—1838 

While Congress was wrestling with the ques- 
tion of the Ohio-Michigan boundary, the people 
of Ohio turned their attention to the approach- 
ing campaign for Governor. Prior to Lucas no 
Executive of the State had ever held that office 
for three consecutive terms; nor has anyone since 
been accorded that honor. Having served with 
credit for four years (two terms), Robert Lucas 
determined before the State nominating conven- 
tions met that he would not again become a can- 
didate, and so informed his friends. 

The Democratic convention again remembered 
Jackson's victory at New Orleans and convened 
at Columbus on January 8, 183G. As their can- 
didate for Governor they nominated Eli Baldwin. 
The Whigs, on the other hand, met on the anni- 
versary of Washington's birthday and put in 
nomination Joseph Vance. A meeting of the 
State Rights Association, however, passed reso- 
lutions in April agreeing to cast their vote for 
Robert Lucas as Governor. This called forth a 



1836 — 1838 151 

protest from Lucas against the use of his name 
as a candidate. It was then explained that the 
resolutions were passed by the convention large- 
ly as a tribute which the Association desired to 
make to Governor Lucas. 

The Columbus newspaper which had most 
strongly opposed his election in the two previous 
campaigns said of him in the summer of 1836: 
"Although elected on party grounds, and called 
to the Executive Chair of the State at a very 
trying period, he has so discharged the duties of 
his office as to command the respect and esteem 
of his political opponents, whose cordial good 
wishes will accompany him in his approaching 
retirement. " ^^^ 

In the early months of 1836 the enemies of 
Lucas circulated the story that the Governor had 
joined the forces of the Whigs and become a 
staunch Harrison man. This was a choice bit 
of gossip for his opponents and they spread it 
everywhere. It reached Lucas's home district; 
and from friends, relatives, and political sup- 
porters came letters of enquiry. It reached the 
Ohio delegation at Washington, where it met 
with the ready belief of Senator Thomas Morris; 
but encountered the sturdy denial of Thomas L. 
Hamer. Hamer immediately wrote to Lucas 
and received satisfying assurances of the falsity 



152 ROBERT LUCAS 

of the story. From Wheelersburg his sister-in- 
law, Rhoda Boynton, and her husband wrote 
anxiously for the truth. 

Long will the answer of Robert Lucas be re- 
membered. He assured his faithful friends and 
sympathetic relatives of his Democratic princi- 
ples and of his unwavering support of Martin 
Van Buren. His sister-in-law wrote in reply: 
''You dont know how much pleasure your 
letter give[s] the Democrats here I saw one 
with the tears to his chin at the reading of it 1 
have read it again <k again the poor w[h]igs 
dro[o]ped their feathers some, all they could 
say was its a lie Gov. Lucas never wrote it." 

The term of Thomas Ewing, United States 
Senator from Ohio, was to expire on March 4, 
1836, and the Democrats were anxious to gain 
an ascendency in the State legislature in order 
to choose a Democrat as his successor. Lucas 
was approached before the election as to whether 
he would consent to be a candidate for the posi- 
tion, providing the Democratic party gained the 
ascendency in the legislature. He expressed his 
willingness if the party really desired it. His 
friends at once took up the matter and efforts 
were directed to accomplish this result. The 
legislature met early in December with the par- 
ties very evenly divided. In the House the 



1836 — 1838 153 

Democrats had a majority of three; while in the 
Senate the Whigs outnumbered their opponents 
by two votes. Thus in joint session the Demo- 
cratic party had a majority of a single vote. The 
retiring message of Governor Lucas to tlie Gen- 
eral Assembly was read; and on December 13, 
1836, Governor Vance, the successful Whig can- 
didate, was inaugurated. Kobert Lucas soon 
after vacating the office of Governor started for 
Friendly Grove; he reached home on the nine- 
teenth. He had not been home a week before 
he received word from Judge Hay ward and other 
friends urging him to return at once to Colum- 
bus, and warning him in particular of the active 
efforts being made for the position by his friend 
William Allen. The ice in the Scioto River, 
however, prevented the stage from running be- 
tween Chillicothe and Portsmouth, and it was 
not until a few days before election that Lucas 
finally reached the State capital. When the 
election took place it became practically a con- 
test between William Allen and Thomas Ewing 
in which Allen was victorious on the thirteenth 
ballot.ii^^ 

Defeat in the cherished hope of years is not 
borne easily by a man in middle life. It comes 
with bitter force to a man whose years have car- 
ried him beyond the half century mark. For 



154 ROBERT LUCAS 

many years Robert Lucas had served his party 
and his State courageously, honestly, and ably 
on the field of battle, in legislative halls and the 
executive ofiSce. Now the place in the United 
States Senate which seemed deservedly his be- 
cause of long and faithful service, was given to 
one who less than a twelvemonth before had 
passed the minimum age limit. An ex-governor, 
he seemed fated to be shoved aside into that 
limbo of half -remembered names whose casual 
mention brings a passing twinge to the emotions 
of his erstwhile friends and only an idle wonder 
to the mind of the younger generation of poli- 
ticians. 

Back to the quiet retirement of Friendly 
Grove he went — back to the farm on the road 
from Piketon, where through the long summer 
months he would work in utter disregard of the 
doings and sayings of the busy outside world. 
Only now and then would an old friend drop 
him a line. In his hermitage he almost forgot 
that he had ever been concerned in public life; 
and when he did remember the fact he almost 
believed the public had forgotten him. 

But the Democracy of his district needed a 
strong man to head the ticket as a candidate for 
the Ohio State Senate in the contest of 1837. 
Lucas reluctantly, and with "a degree of self con- 



1836 — 1838 155 

demnation for permitting himself to be urged 
from his retreat", assumed the candidacy. The 
fall election was not a day of triumph for the 
Democracy. John I. Van Meter, the Whig op- 
ponent of Lucas, and the entire Whig delegation 
to the legislature were elected and the ex-gov- 
ernor returned once more to the simple duties of 
the farm.^^^ 

But in the quiet of this retreat at Friendly 
Grove he was not forgotten by his friends. For 
years an intimate friendship had existed between 
Robert Lucas and Thomas L. Hamer. In his 
long service at AVashington, Hamer had per- 
formed many services to Lucas and not less 
faithfully had Lucas served Hamer in affairs at 
home. Their correspondence breathes a spirit 
of candid fellowship, of mutual respect and con- 
fidence. It was not merely a political friendship; 
it was a strong personal attachment. In the 
campaign of 1836 when United States Senator 
Thomas Morris was exerting every effort to 
bring about the defeat of Hamer for Congress, 
Lucas was able to frustrate one of MoiTis's plans 
and assist his own friend. ^^^ Now the time had 
come when Hamer could repay the kindness. 

On June 12, 1838, Congress passed an act 
creating the new Territory of Iowa. The ap- 
pointment of Governor of the Territory rested 



156 ROBERT LUCAS 

with the President of the United States. It 
was a responsible position. The Territory of 
Iowa then extended to the British line on the 
north, and lay on the very frontier of civilization. 
In the Territory and along its borders were the 
Indian tribes — partly native and partly tribes 
that had been moved west of the Mississippi 
by the United States Government. The posi- 
tion carried with it a salary of $1500 as Govern- 
or and $1000 as Superintendent of Indian Affairs. 
Thomas Benton, of Missouri, and other western 
men urged the appointment of General Henry 
Atkinson, of the United States Army, who was 
at this time stationed at Jefferson Barracks near 
St. Louis. General Atkinson was eminently fitted 
for the place and as President Van Buren desired 
a military man he received the appointment. It 
was considered doubtful, however, whether he 
would accept the position; and Hamer pushed 
the candidacy of Lucas in the event of Atkinson's 
declining. On June 24, 1838, he wrote to Lu- 
cas telling him the condition of affairs and ask- 
ing Lucas to let him know at once whether he 
would accept the position if it were offered. ^^^ 
He also urged him, if he could not answer before 
the adjournment of Congress, to write directly 
to President Van Buren. 

Robert Lucas was meanwhile away from home 



1836 — 1838 157 

on a visit in Indiana and did not receive his 
friend's communication until July 8th. As he 
returned through Columbus he learned that Gen- 
eral Atkinson would probably decline; and a 
recommendation was there drawn up and signed 
by a number of the friends of General Lucas 
from different parts of the State who were there 
attending Court. This recommendation favor- 
ing the appointment of Lucas as Governor of the 
Territory of Iowa was sent to President Van 
Buren. 

The day after his return to Friendly Grove, 
Lucas, in compliance with the suggestion of his 
friend, wrote directly to President Van Buren. 
He stated that, should the President see proper 
to tender to him the appointment, he would use 
every exertion to discharge the duties to the 
satisfaction of the Executive of the United States 
and to promote the interests and prosperity of 
the inhabitants of the Territory of Iowa. 

The wheels at Washington had, however, been 
moving more rapidly than had Robert Lucas. 
General Atkinson had declined to accept the po- 
sition. President Van Buren had conferred the 
appointment upon Lucas, and his commission as 
governor of the Temtory of Iowa had been 
dated two days before the letter of Lucas left 
Friendly Grove. On July 17, 1838, Lucas re- 



158 ROBERT LUCAS 

ceived official notification of his appointment 
from Secretary of State John Forsyth; and on 
that same day he answered, accepting the office 
and stating his intention of starting in a few 
days for his new post.^'^^ 

In the years that Robert Lucas had spent in 
Ohio the spirit of the frontiersman had not left 
him. He had seen the State grow up from a 
wilderness with only here and there a solitary 
settlement to a Commonwealth of over a million 
people and hundreds of thriving towns. With 
his own axe he had helped to cut the early roads 
and lay the first bridges. With the surveyor's 
chain he had tramped over miles of trackless 
prairie and marked county lines. In the legis- 
lature and in the executive chair he had strug- 
gled year after year for the improvement of the 
roads and the construction and completion of the 
great canals that belt the State. 

Robert Lucas had, indeed, spent the best years 
of his life in the growing Commonwealth of 
Ohio; but in the meantime the frontier with its 
rough honesty and its rugged charms had not 
lingered. It had passed far out beyond the Mis- 
sissippi. Toward this distant border line where 
the Indian still paddled up and down the streams 
and the wolf still howled at night by the lonely 
squatter's cabin Lucas now turned his face. 



1836 — 1838 159 

But to his wife Friendly, in wliom the nomadic 
spirit of the Lucas family did not stir, the pros- 
pect had less alluring charms. To leave Friendly 
Grove where all these years she had lived so 
happily, and take the long winding trail by 
water or land out to a haunt of savages and 
frontier settlefs, seemed far from pleasant. ^-^^ 
It was finally agreed that Kobert Lucas should 
go out alone to the new Territory and report his 
judgment of the country, while Friendly should 
stay for the present on the farm with the family. 

And so, on the twenty-fifth day of July, 1838, 
Robert Lucas, in the fifty-seventh year of his 
age, with his rugged spirit unbroken by the 
years of service, began his long journey to the 
far western country where sturdy men dared in 
spite of toil and suffering to plough the fields of 
the wilderness and build their habitations in 
places of loneliness. 



XVI 

From Ohio to Iowa 

For about five days Governor Lucas stopped at 
Cincinnati. Here, on Friday, the 27tli of July, 
1838, a young man called at his lodging-place, 
but did not find him in. Again on Monday he 
came with Mr. J. C. Avery, who introduced him 
to the Governor as Theodore S. Parvin. Mr. 
Parvin was a youth of only twenty-one years, 
with a legal education, a romance, and an eager 
desire to win his fortune in the far West. After 
making arrangements with the Governor to ac- 
company him to the Territory of Iowa, he de- 
parted to pack his books and bid farewell to his 
family, his friends, and his sweetheart. Before 
leaving Cincinnati Lucas attached to himself an- 
other companion, a young man of about Parvin's 
age, named Jesse Williams. The story of these 
two men is for the next few years closely woven 
with that of their leader and friend, the Gov- 
ernor. 

While in Cincinnati Governor Lucas, taking 
note of the fact that the Organic Act of the 



FROM OHIO TO IOWA 161 

Territory of Iowa provided for an appropriation 
of 15000 for tlie purchase of a Temtorial libra- 
ry, made a selection of volumes which he deem- 
ed suitable for the needs of a pioneer govern- 
ment and left the list with Edward Lucas & 
Company, booksellers. 

It was in the afternoon of Wednesday, the 
first day of August, that Governor Lucas and 
his two young friends left Cincinnati and started 
on the long trip down the Ohio River on the 
steamboat Temijesty- The summer of 1838 was 
hot and dry and the river lay very low in its 
banks. In the morning they reached Louisville, 
Kentucky, where they landed and proceeded to 
visit the place. But the weather appeared to 
have oppressed the town ; business seemed dull 
and lifeless; and the party soon returned to the 
river and the little steamboat library. All day 
and all night they remained at the wharf listen- 
ing to the roar of the falls below the town and 
fighting the swarms of mosquitoes that threat- 
ened to devour them. With the morning they 
were off again and soon passed through the ca- 
nal around the falls. At Louisville Jesse Wil- 
liams secured some papers. In the perusal of 
these and the books in the library of the boat 
and with long chats they passed the time while 
the Temijest w^as dragging its slow course over 

11 



162 ROBERT LUCAS 

the shallow flats of the great emigrants' water- 
way. Often they sat together on the deck while 
the Governor, out of the rich sources of his long 
experience, told them of the early days in the 
State of Ohio — tales of the time when he who 
traveled must make his road as he went and 
build out of bark withed together the bridges 
for the streams he crossed. Now and then he 
would talk to them of their future on the fron- 
tier and the things it held in prospect for them. 
Thus they read and talked and dreamed dreams 
while the boat moved slowly down the Ohio. 

It was a tedious voyage. Again and again 
the boat grounded on a bar and in company with 
other unfortunates lay to for hours at a time in 
a vain effort to disengage itself. Often they 
were under the necessity of transferring the en- 
tire cargo, freight, baggage, and passengers to a 
large "flat" which accompanied them in order 
to lighten the steamboat. The patient passen- 
gers perched themselves ujDon potato barrels 
bound for the south and fought mosquitoes in 
the hot sun, while over on the steamboat the 
captain was endeavoring to coax his craft away 
from the mud bar. 

Sometimes when the bottom of the river ob- 
truded itself so unobligingly upon the steam- 
boat's keel the young men forsook the craft 



FROM OHIO TO IOWA 163 

and, taking to the shores in the yawl, sought 
the refreshing joys of cool springs and melon 
patches. Now and then with the night came a 
shower; but morning brought again the warm 
sultry weather. Sunday, as they lay aground 
on French Island, passengers from other boats 
in the same predicament, and out of provisions, 
dined with them. While the hot August sun 
beat down upon them and the boat still clung 
to the bottom of the river the ice gave out. But 
at last after the usual process of unloading they 
swung clear again and pursued their way. At 
every opportunity the passengers were glad to 
land and hunt for cool water; and when Jesse 
Williams or some other excursionist brought 
back ice to the boat he was universally blessed. 
But the days went by and with them the 
shores of Indiana and Illinois. The Governor 
passed much of the time in reading, spending 
hours over Buckland's Geology. Parvin, who 
in those days of his youth kept a daily journal, 
records many interesting incidents of this mem- 
orable trip. He describes Governor Lucas as 
^'advanced in years (57) wears double glass 
specks, of good size, well formed erect and pre- 
senting a fine appearance of social qualities, 
plain and unassuming almost to a fault active 
and of business habits and well calculated for 



164 ROBERT LUCAS 

the station he now holds which he will no doubt 
fill with honor to himself and country." 

The purpose of the Governor in taking with 
him Parvin and Williams seems to have been 
largely to help these young men in getting a 
start. Although Parvin never was connected 
with Lucas in any official capacity, he acted as 
his Private Secretary and performed some of 
the clerical duties of the executive office while 
waiting for clients to bring him a law practice. 
"Williams also seems to have assisted at times in 
the executive office, and was employed by Lu- 
cas as Messenger in connection with Indian af- 
fairs.^^ On the boat the two younger men were 
thrown much together; and while the Governor 
pursued his reading they engaged in many long 
conversations ranging from wondering specula- 
tions about the life in Iowa to animated discus- 
sions of the usual amusements of young persons, 
which Parvin heartily disapproved and Williams 
as strongly favored. 

On the eleventh of August, after ten days of 
alternate progress and enforced idleness, they 
came in sight of the Mississippi and entered its 
turbid waters with a feeling of great joy. That 
evening the passengers held a meeting, with 
Lucas as chairman and Parvin as secretary; and, 
as was the custom in the days of early steam- 



FROM OHIO TO IOWA 165 

boating, they drew up resolutions expressing 
their appreciation of the efforts made during the 
voyage by the officers of the boat. All the next 
day, which was Sunday, the boat made its way 
up the Mississippi, reaching St. Louis early on 
Monday morning. 

Here they paused and spent the forenoon vis- 
iting friends and seeing the sights of this west- 
ern center of migration. In the afternoon they 
w^ere under way again with the boat's band play- 
ing and all thoughts on the approaching end of 
the long journey. Past Alton and Quincy they 
went, past Warsaw and the mouth of the Des 
Moines River; and about half past five on the 
14th of August they saw for the first time the 
shores of the Territory of Iowa. 

To Robert Lucas, as he drew near to the land 
of his final adoption, there must have come many 
conflicting thoughts. For the third and last 
time his lot was to be cast with the forerunners 
of the nation's civilization. He had ahvays been 
a pioneer. It was in his blood and in his race. 
By the shores of the Shenandoah River, away 
back in the Old Dominion, he had first opened 
his eyes upon a frontier environment. A score of 
years passed quickly by and when the encroach- 
ments of civilization had dotted the Shenandoah 
Valley with the habitations of a well organ- 



166 ROBERT LUCAS 

ized society, he had traveled out along the trail 
of the pioneer emigrant until he found, on the 
shores of the Ohio, the border line of westward 
progress. 

In this new land he had spent a third of a 
century. From the fastnesses of an unpeopled 
wilderness he had seen the rise of a great State 
whose roads, laws, and history he had helped to 
make. But while he had busied himself with 
affairs of state, the pioneer conditions had once 
more escaped him. Each year had found the 
squatter's cabin, the restless tribes of Indians, 
and the receding forests a little nearer the set- 
ting sun. 

And now the lure of the untamed frontier had 
led him out to the border line beyond the Father 
of Waters. Two warm and weary weeks he had 
spent on the winding waterway. He had left 
behind him the settled ways of established civ- 
ilization. He had overtaken once more the far- 
flung outskirts of the nation's growth. 

As Lucas and the little band of passengers 
gathered to look upon the promised land, the 
clouds grew darker, and the rain that had for 
some time been falling beat down upon the 
steamer and ran in little rivulets across the deck. 
The Tempest lay to and waited for kinder weather 
and fairer skies. 



FROM OHIO TO IOWA 167 

About eight o'clock on the morning of the 
15th of August, 1838, they arrived at the wharf 
of Burlington in Iowa Territory. Crowds of citi- 
zens were there to greet them. William B. Con- 
way, the Secretary and Acting Governor of the 
Territory was there. Prominent townsmen came 
to bid the Governor welcome, and less prominent 
townspeople to satisfy their curiosity. 

It was an erect and dignified figure that step- 
ped from the steamer to the wharf on that sum- 
mer morning. He was about ^ve feet ten inches 
in height, though he probably seemed taller 
because of his straight military bearing. His 
thick wavy hair, dark in his younger days but 
grown white in the course of years, was combed 
straight back from a high forehead. Blue eyes 
set deep beneath shaggy overhanging eyebrows, 
a long and slightly aquiline nose, and a straight 
firm mouth gave a rather severe expression to 
his thin face. Though the years drew wTinkles 
between the beetling eyebrows and tightened the 
lines about the stern mouth, they failed to dim 
the flash of those intense blue eyes. He had 
passed middle age when he came to Iowa; yet 
little of the vigor and relentless energy of his 
youth had left him; and one at least of those 
who met him at the wharf was destined to realize 
that he was not a man to be dealt with lightly. 



XVII 

Secretary Conway 

Governor Lucas and his little party took lodg- 
ings at the Burlington House. Here an invita- 
tion was tendered, signed by James W. Grimes, 
James Clarke, and others of a committee, ask- 
ing him to a public dinner to be given in his 
honor at such time as he should see fit. Lucas 
replied at once, thanking them; but asked that 
the dinner be postponed until after his return 
from a trip he must make on official duty to the 
northern part of the Territory. 

That same afternoon he began his work as the 
Chief Executive of the Territory. Secretary Con- 
way, who had arrived nearly a month before, 
had taken upon himself the office of Acting Gov- 
ernor, according to what he deemed to be the 
intent of the provisions of the Organic Act of the 
Territory. By the time Lucas arrived Conway 
had written certain letters, issued a proclamation, 
and was planning other official duties as Acting 
Governor. Some of these documents Governor 
Lucas when he entered office sanctioned and had 



SECRETARY CONWAY 169 

recorded in his Executive Journal}"-'^ On the 
afternoon of his arrival the Governor issued a 
proclamation providing for the election of mem- 
bers of the Territorial legislatui'e.^-- 

In order to understand the condition of affairs 
upon the arrival of Governor Lucas in the Ter- 
ritory of Iowa, it is necessary to review some of 
the events of the preceding months. On June 
12, 1888, an act of Congress was approved which 
divided the original Territory of Wisconsin and 
established, out of the country west of the Mis- 
sissippi River, the Territory of Iowa. The peo- 
ple of the new Territory were naturally interest- 
ed in the appointment of their Territorial officers 
by the President of the United States. Several 
names were suggested by the local newsj^apers 
for the office of Governor, most prominent among 
them being Henry Dodge and George W. Jones, 
who at the time were Governor and Delegate to 
Congress respectively for the original Territory 
of Wisconsin. ^^^ 

Neither of these gentlemen, however, receiv- 
ed the appointment, although George W. Jones 
seems to have been allowed to name a large pro- 
portion of the President's nominees for the Ter- 
ritorial offices. ^-^ While the negotiations were 
going on for the Governorship, the appointment 
of Secretary of the Territory was made without 



170 ROBERT LUCAS 

the least delay. William B. Conway had for 
some years conducted a Democratic newspaper 
in Pennsylvania, and with considerable partisan 
spirit had labored for the political success of An- 
drew Jackson and Martin VanBuren. ^^^ On the 
day after the Organic Act was approved, a com- 
mission was made out in favor of Conway as Sec- 
retary of the Territory of Iowa. The appoint- 
ment was at once accepted. 

On the 21st of June, 1838, Mr. Conway wrote 
to the Secretary of State asking if he might not 
visit Washington on his way to the new Terri- 
tory. Secretary Forsyth replied that the Terri- 
tory was to be organized on the third of July, 
at which time the presence of the Governor and 
Secretary or of one of them would be required. 
He spoke of the delay occasioned by the uncer- 
tainty regarding General Atkinson and empha- 
sized the importance of incurring no delay which 
would render his arrival by the 8rd of July at 
all doubtful.^-^ Whether Conway made his visit 
to AVashington or not is unknown; but the fact 
remains that he did not reach Iowa Territory 
until the twentieth of July, on which date — near- 
ly three weeks after the time set for the organ- 
ization of the government — he arrived at the 
town of Burlington. 

Three days later he took the oath of office be- 



SECRETARY CONWAY 171 

fore Judge Irwin. For nearly three weeks the 
Territory had endured an interregnum without 
serious calamity, and there was little reason to 
anticipate any need for the exercise of the Gov- 
ernor's prerogative before Eobert Lucas should 
arrive. The Organic Act, however, provided that 
"in case of the death, removal, resignation, or 
necessary absence of the Governor from the Ter- 
ritory, the Secretary shall have, and he is here- 
by authorized and required to execute and per- 
form all the powers and duties of the Governor". 
Interpreting the delayed arrival of the Executive 
as a technical "absence" and, perhaps, finding 
an implication in the desire of Secretary Forsyth 
that he should be in the Territory by the 3rd of 
July in the event of the Governor's delay, Con- 
way felt authorized to assume the Governor's of- 
fice. He immediately began operations as Act- 
ing Governor of the Territory of Iowa. 

The assumption of the Governorship by Sec- 
retary Conway was legal; and if he had executed 
it in a judicious manner, attending only to that 
which required immediate action and postponing 
other matters until the arrival of Governor Lu- 
cas, his course w^ould have given no cause for 
objection. But Mr. Conway was young and he 
was ambitious. Nor had he any experience in 
public office. This opportunity for the brief ex- 



172 ROBERT LUCAS 

ercise of autliority seems to have carried him be- 
yond the limits which a wiser and more exper- 
ienced judgment would have prescribed. 

On the same day that Secretary Conway took 
his oath of office there occurred a meeting of the 
Burlington bar. This meeting took under con- 
sultation the division of the Territory into judicial 
districts and the time of holding courts. After 
adjournment they reported their suggestions to 
Secretary Conway. Two days later, the 25th 
day of July, Conway as Acting Governor issued 
a proclamation dividing the Territory into dis- 
tricts for judicial purposes, assigning a judge to 
each district, and designating the time at which 
the court in each county should be held. 

The following extract from a letter written by 
Conway on the same day that he issued this first 
proclamation and addressed to Governor Lucas 
at Burlington is rather significant: "Inasmuch 
as your arrival, at this place [Burlington], is 
daily expected, it is deemed proper to inform 
you, that any communication you may think 
proper to make will reach me at Dubuque, to 
which place I am about to proceed, by the next 
boat. "^^^ In view of the fact that the arrival of 
Lucas was "daily expected", it would seem that 
Conway might have been less impetuous in the 
issuing of an executive proclamation, particularly 



SECRETARY CONWAY 173 

one regarding the holding of courts, the earliest 
of which was not to convene until the second 
Monday of September. 

His letter to the Governor was, however, very 
courteous. In it he mentioned the "strong local 
expectations", jealousies, and rivalry that exist- 
ed in several places along the river as regards 
the temporary location of the capital; and sug- 
gested visiting the towns as far as Dubuque be- 
fore deciding the matter. Pie also stated that in 
expectation of the Governor's arrival he had 
suspended the apportionment of the Territory 
through proper deference to the superior judg- 
ment of Lucas. 

Conway proceeded up the river to Davenport 
where he became intimate with Antoine LeClaire, 
Colonel Davenport, and other prominent citi- 
zens. Charmed with the town and flattered by 
its inhabitants he made Davenport his home, and 
with the exception of the periods of legislative 
sessions lived there until his death in November 
of 1839. It is only natural that, influenced by 
his friends and fellow townsmen , he should have 
been anxious to have Davenport made the capi- 
tal of the Territory; and the statement is made 
that he assured persons in Davenport that this 
would be done.^^^ 

During the first two weeks of August (before 



174 ROBERT LUCAS 

the arrival of Lucas) Conway continued bis per- 
formance of executive duties, commencing nego- 
tations, among other things, for the appointment 
of a Commissioner to confer with Commission- 
ers representing the United States and the State 
of Missouri regarding the southern boundary line 
of the Territory. When Governor Lucas arrived 
at Burlington he found the Acting Governor 
about to issue a proclamation apportioning the 
Representatives and ordering an election. Con- 
way handed to the Governor the copy of his 
proclamation and left for Davenport within an 
hour after the arrival of Lucas. ^^^ 

These peculiar conditions, Avhich existed at 
the beginning of the Territorial government, 
formed the foundation for a bitter quarrel be- 
tween the Governor and the Secretary and in- 
tensified the later quarrel between the Governor 
and the first legislature. Governor Lucas with 
his long years of experience in political ofiice 
looked upon the conduct of the young Secretary 
as a most uncalled for presumption and was great- 
ly incensed thereby. On the other hand. Sec- 
retary Conway, young, inexperienced, and high- 
ly ambitious, having enjoyed a few weeks of 
executive authority, was deeply humiliated at 
being relegated to the more humble position of 
Secretary under a cloud of executive displeasure. 



SECRETARY CONWAY 175 

One of the first duties of the Executive was to 
locate the temporary capital of the Territory. 
In order to make a judicious choice, Governor 
Lucas determined to follow Conway's suggestion 
and visit the principal towns along the river. 
On Saturday afternoon, August 18, the Gover- 
nor together with his two ''aids" (as he often 
called them) left on the steamboat Kriicherhoch- 
er for Dubuque. At this place he was royally 
entertained. Mr. Langworthy took him for a 
drive Monday afternoon, and Judge Wilson and 
John King and others opened their homes to 
him. On Friday, after nearly a week of enjoy- 
ment, they left for Galena. While riding across 
the country in the stage they met George W. 
Jones, who was on his way to Dubuque to see 
the Governor. The woes of pioneer traveling 
still visited them, and in consequence of a break- 
down of the stage they proceeded on foot until 
they reached the house of George W. Jones at 
Sinsinnawa Mound. They paid a short visit to 
Galena and then journeyed back to the Missis- 
sippi and down stream to Davenport, where Con- 
way met them at the bank. Here they Sunday- 
ed and lingered till Tuesday when they again 
took the stage which again broke down before 
they had traversed the few miles between Daven- 
port and Kockingham. With short stops they 



176 ROBERT LUCAS 

passed on from Rockingham to Bloomington; 
and at daybreak of August 30th reached Burling- 
ton. ^^^ 

The trip up the river and the examination of 
the advantages of the various towns resulted in 
the choice of Burlington as the temporary capi- 
tal of the Territory. Here Lucas settled down 
on the day of his return and busied himself with 
executive duties. Commissions were to be is- 
sued, officers appointed, and numberless arrange- 
ments to be made before the meeting of the first 
legislature. The Secretary of the Territory, 
whose duty it was to make preparations for the 
meeting of the legislature, was at Davenport. 
On September 5th Governor Lucas wrote to him : 
''I have procured me an office and have bespoke 
an adjoining room as an office for you, as it will 
be convenient to have the executive office near 
the Sect?" I would be glad to see you at this 
place. I am anxious to commence official duties 
in a regular manner, which cannot be done un- 
til the Sec?^ is present." 

He also spoke of the need of procuring sta- 
tionery for the use of the legislature and sug- 
gested that Mr. Parvin, who was expecting to 
start for Cincinnati in a few days, should pro- 
cure at that place such supplies as Conway should 
see proper to authorize. On the same day Con- 



SECRETARY CONWAY 177 

way wrote to Lucas asking to be allowed to 
choose a room for himself in order that he might 
find an apartment with a bed in it. He stated 
his intention of being in Burlington shortly af- 
ter the election. He did not, however, leave 
home for Burlington until October 20th. On 
September 27th he wrote again from Davenport 
submitting bids for the furnishings of the legis- 
lative halls and asked the Governor to interview 
the bidders, secure further information, and com- 
plete negotiations. He speaks of the sickness 
of his wife, and this may have been the reason 
for his delay. 

Meanwhile Parvin had started for Cincinnati. 
As he passed Davenport on his way up the riv- 
er Conway came aboard; and the Secretary of 
the Territory and the Private Secretary of the 
Governor had a not eminently satisfactory inter- 
view on the way to Galena over the subject of 
supplies for the Territory. Secretary Conway 
refused to sanction the purchase of goods by 
Parvin. In consequence of this. Governor Lucas 
requested a conference with the Secretary of 
the Territory to arrange the matter. Conway 
describes the conference afterward in these words : 
' ' The Secretary was obliged to put out on board 
of the old steam Boat 'Science,' when the water 
was low, the weather warm, the mosquitoes furi- 

12 



178 ROBERT LUCAS 

ous, the crew sickly, and tlie provisions scarce: 
In this situation he had to weather it out for 
four nights and three days, in a passage from 
Rock Island to Burlington; and all on account 
of this stationery; — all because the person last 
named in your resolution [Parvin] was going to 
Cincinnati, and because Governor Lucas, there- 
fore thought stationery could be had * cheaper' 
at that place. "1^^ 

The matter was arranged and instructions were 
sent to Parvin to procure the supplies. He was 
also entrusted with the task of shipping to the 
Territory the library of books which Governor 
Lucas had selected in Cincinnati while on his 
way to lowa.^^^ The extremely low water in the 
river prevented the materials being sent to the 
new Territory for some time, which occasioned 
further statements of dissatisfaction from the 
Secretary of the Territory. The election for the 
new members of the First Legislative Assembly 
occurred on September 10, 1838, the day fol- 
lowing Parvin's departure for Ohio; and on No- 
vember 12, 1888, the legislators convened in 
Zion Church at Burlington. 



XVIII 

The First Legislative Assembly 

The First Legislative Assembly of the Territory 
of Iowa was a characteristically pioneer body. 
The members were mostly young men, almost a 
third of the number being under thirty years of 
age. They were, naturally, for the most part 
farmers. In the House of Representatives nine- 
teen out of the twenty-six members followed this 
occupation. There were in the entire list of 
thirty- nine legislators only four lawyers. Among 
the others were merchants, physicians, a gun- 
smith, a miner, and a retired army officer. As 
legislators they had little experience; but there 
were some who afterward attained considerable 
prominence in the State and nation — notably 
James W. Grimes and Stephen Hempstead, both 
of whom became Governor of the State of Iowa. 
Grimes was at this time but twenty-two years of 
age, while Hempstead was four years older. ^^^ 
On the first day of the session, November 12, 
1838, Governor Lucas read his first message to 
the legislature. It was a noteworthy document. ^"^^ 



180 ROBERT LUCAS 

It was the message of a man advanced in years 
and experienced in politics to a body of men of 
untried years and for the most part little versed 
in the art of government. It was backed by the 
knowledge gained from the weals and woes of 
four years as Governor of a great State. It w^as 
in many respects in advance of the times. 

The number of children in the Territory of 
Iowa w\as not great at this time, and so the need 
for a w^ell organized system of public schools 
was not generally appreciated. But Lucas with 
a far sighted view of the Territory's growth 
urged the attention of the early legislators to 
this need. "There is no subject", he said, ''to 
which I wish to call your attention more em- 
phatically, than the subject of establishing, at 
the commencement of our political existence, a 
well digested system of common schools". 

The compilation of a code of criminal law 
was also strongly urged. In connection with 
this subject Governor Lucas had the courage to 
give expression to an opinion Avhich was later 
the cause of much hostility. He arraigned the 
two vices of gambling and intemperance in se- 
vere terms. "These two vices", he said, "may 
be considered the fountains from which almost 
every other crime proceeds . . . They have pro- 
duced more murders, robberies and individual 



FIRST LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 181 

distress, than all other crimes put together . . . 
Could you in your wisdom devise ways and 
means to check the progress of gambling and 
intemperance in this Territory, you will per- 
form an act which would immortalize your names 
and entitle you to the gratitude of posterity." 

This recommendation he reenforced by the 
statement of his intentions in regard to appoint- 
ments. ^'I shall at all times pay a due respect 
to recommendations; but cannot conscientiously 
nominate to office any individual of had moral 
character, or, that may be addicted to intemper- 
ance or gambling, if known to me. These vices 
are so contaminating in their character, that all 
public officers in my opinion should be clear of 
even a suspicion of being addicted to them." 
This was bold doctrine indeed to preach to a 
body of men many of whom were themselves 
addicted to these contaminating vices. 

A short time before the meeting of the legis- 
lature Cyrus Jacobs, a member elect of the Leg- 
islative Assembly, had as a result of a political 
quarrel been shot and killed in the streets of Bur- 
lington by David Rorer, a prominent lawyer of 
that city. Lucas made it the occasion of a stern 
censure of the practice of wearing concealed 
weapons. "The recent transaction in this city," he 
said, "that deprived the Legislative Assembly of 



182 ROBERT LUCAS 

one of its members elect, as well as all other trans- 
actions of a similar character, should meet with 
the indignant frown of every friend of morality 
and good order in community; and the practice 
of wearing concealed about the person, dirks, 
pistols, and other deadly weapons, should not 
only be considered disreputable, but criminal, 
and punished accordingly. There certainly can- 
not be a justifiable excuse offered for such a 
practice; for in a civil community, a brave man 
never anticipates danger, and an honest man 
will always look to the laws for protection." 
Whether influenced by this rebuke or not, David 
Korer was thenceforth a most bitter enemy of 
the Governor. 

In this first message the Governor also rec- 
ommended the efficient organization and disci- 
pline of the militia for defense against possible 
Indian attacks. He advised the appointment of 
three commissioners to choose the permanent 
seat of government; and urged the compilation 
and enactment of a complete code of laws for 
the Territory. The financial policy of Governor 
Lucas is worth noting. "In disbursing the ap- 
propriation," he said, '^we would avoid parsi- 
mony in its application to defray necessary ex- 
penses; but at the same time should use strict 
economy^ and be careful in our expenditures 



FIRST LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 183 

never to exceed the appropriations made by 
Congress." Thus, with sane advice, experienced 
counsel, and courageous warning the first Leg- 
islative Assembly of the Territory of Iowa be- 
gan its labors. But the session was marked 
with bitterness and strife, and adjournment was 
attended with an open rupture between the Gov- 
ernor and the legislators. 

By the Organic Act the Governor was made 
an integral part of the legislative department. 
"The legislative power shall be vested in the 
Governor and a Legislative Assembly," and the 
Governor "shall approve of all laws passed by 
the Legislative Assembly before they shall take 
effect". It was a position of great power and 
influence. Governor Lucas had by no means 
crossed the line of settled civilization to accept 
an office of inferior rank. As Governor of Ohio 
he had not been allowed even the vestige of a 
veto power; he had enjoyed but little appointive 
power; and his salary was limited to $1000. As 
Governor of the Territory of Iowa he had abso- 
lute veto power on legislation, large appointive 
powers, and received an annual salary of 12500 — 
$1500 for his duties as Governor and $1000 as 
Superintendent of Indian Aff'airs. In Ohio the 
power of the executive was too limited. In 
Iowa it may have been too great. And the re- 



184 ROBERT LUCAS 

suit was political jealousies and constant strife 
until the Organic Act was amended. 

The very inauguration of the Territorial gov- 
ernment had been attended with unfortunate re- 
lationships between Governor Lucas and Secre- 
tary Conway, and before the first month of the 
legislative session had expired Secretary Conway 
had involved himself in a controversy with the 
Legislative Assembly. During the second month 
he had made his peace with the legislature, but 
had broken with the Governor. Before the 
close of the third month and the adjournment 
of the session, the Legislative Assembly with 
the able assistance of Secretary Conway had be 
come involved in a dispute with the Governor 
which resulted in an unsuccessful effort to per 
suade the President of the United States to re 
move Kobert Lucas from the executive chair. 
The story of these three controversies constitutes 
very largely the history of the First Territorial 
Assembly. 

The trouble between Conway and the Legis- 
lative Assembly began late in November, 1838. 
The members of the Council finding themselves 
lacking in certain articles necessary or convenient 
for their use passed resolutions asking the Sec- 
retary of the Territory to provide them with 
knives, tin cups, and some other articles of a 



FIRST LEGISLATIVP: assembly 185 

like nature. Secretary Conway replied witli a 
communication in rather flippant and ironical 
language which greatly offended the dignity of 
the Council. ^^'^ The communication was referred 
to a committee; and the report of the committee, 
characterizing: the communication as lacking: in 
respect, and assuring the Secretary that "the 
present Legislature will not tamely submit to 
the insults and derision of any officer of this 
TeiTitory", was adopted by the Council with no 
dissenting votes. 

MeauAvhile Conway had learned of the opinion 
which the Council held in regard to his reply, 
and before the report was presented he suggest- 
ed to members of the committee that they should 
inquire formally of him "whether any disrespect 
was intended by said communication?" He also 
repeated this suggestion in a written note to the 
committee. But the Council evidently felt it 
beneath its dignity to ask for explanations or 
to make inquiries regarding the animus of the 
Secretary, for it paid no attention to the note. 
The report of the committee, beside taking ex- 
ceptions to the tone of Conway's reply, proceed- 
ed to arraign him for negligence in providing for 
the comfort and convenience of the Assembly 
and complained that "great pains w^ere taken to 
prevent the Merchants and citizens of Burling- 



186 ROBERT LUCAS 

ton from crediting the officers of the Council and 
House of Representatives of this Territory, for 
small articles necessary for their use and the 
Hon Secretary of the Territory was understood 
to intimate that accounts made by the officers of 
the legislature, would not be paid by him." 
The Secretary denied the charges but added: 
"It must be known, that the Secretary, as the 
disbursing officer of the Territorial Government, 
would not allow every man who might be, or 
might call himself 'an officer of the Legislature,' 
to go and deal with whom he pleased, and for 
what he pleased without the restrictions imposed 
by a specific order." 

Greatly incensed by the refusal of the Council 
to rescind their vote of censure, the Secretary 
proceeded in turn to solemnly arraign the Council. 
He finally threatened that, unless the resolutions 
were withdrawn from the Journal, he, as Sec- 
retary, would refuse to certify to the authenticity 
of the record when he transmitted his copy of 
the proceedings to Congress. The quarrel was 
finally settled amicably, all communications re- 
lating to the matter were withdrawn from the 
Journal, and Conway, having made his peace 
with the Council, joined forces with the General 
Assembly in opposition to the Executive of the 
Territory. ^^^ 



XIX 

Territorial Expenditures 

The quarrel between the Governor and the Leg- 
islative Assembly was precipitated by the prob- 
lem of Territorial expenditures. In his message 
to the legislature at the opening of the session, 
Governor Lucas had recommended strongly the 
practice of strict economy and the desirability of 
never exceeding the appropriations made by 
Congress. This wholesome advice was not alto- 
gether palatable to a class of younger men in 
the Territory who seemed to feel that since the 
United States Government was paying the bills, 
the opportunity of spending should be freely 
used.^^*^ Thus the policy of expenditures early 
became a problem difficult of settlement. 

In accordance with the proclamation of the 
Governor the Legislative Assembly met on the 
12th day of November, 1838. Two days later 
a resolution passed by the House of Represen- 
tatives regarding the expenditure of money was 
handed to the Secretary of the Territory. Sec- 
retary Conway, after consulting with the Gov- 



188 ROBERT LUCAS 

ernor, replied to the House in a detailed com- 
munication which is worthy of careful notice.^^^ 

The Organic Act of the Territory of Iowa 
made the following provision in regard to the 
public expenditures: "There shall also be ap- 
propriated, annually, a sufficient sum, to be ex- 
pended by the Secretary of the Territory, and 
upon an estimate to be made by the Secretary 
of the Treasury of the United States, to defray 
the expenses of the Legislative Assembly, the 
printing of the laws, and other incidental ex- 
penses; and the Secretary of the Territory shall 
annually account to the Secretary of the Treasury 
of the United States, for the manner in which 
the aforesaid sum shall have been expended." ^^^ 

Secretary Conway, after quoting this provision, 
proceeded to outline his views upon the expen- 
diture of the public funds. The w^arning of the 
Governor against overstepping the limits set by 
Congress evidently did not impress him greatly, 
for he wrote: ''that we are bound to limit our 
necessary and proper exjDenditures by the Con- 
gressional appropriation, is an opinion from 
which I feel reluctantly constrained to withhold 
my assent". This vital difference of opinion in 
respect to the public finance of the Territory 
boded ill for the peace and harmony of the Ter- 
ritorial administration. 



TERRITORIAL EXPENDITURES 189 

Conway thought it advisable, however, that a 
general law should be enacted by the Legislative 
Assembly providing specifically for the items 
of expense in the Territory and the manner in 
which the funds should be expended. He enu- 
merated the several points upon which pro- 
vision should be made. Among them he men- 
tioned the provision for the number of clerks 
and officers of the Legislative Assembly and the 
specification of the salary per diem that they 
should receive. He also recommended a pro- 
vision for a sufficient sum to pay for the rent 
and furniture of the Governor's office and of the 
Secretary's office, "together with a sufficient sum 
to pay the perquisites of the latter, in preparing 
the laAvs and superintending their publication 
and distribution — allowing him a frank at all 
times, for letters and documents to every part 
of the Territory." But later when Governor 
Lucas presented to him a bill for furniture in 
the executive office, he refused to pay it, claim- 
ing that it should come out of the Governor s 
contingent fund. A bill of the nature suggested 
by Secretary Conway was introduced into the 
House and was known as "Mr. Frierson's Bill"; 
but it failed of passage. 

Meanwhile the two houses had been consider- 
ing their needs in the way of legislative clerks, 



190 ROBERT LUCAS 

janitors and sergeants-at-arms. Altogether there 
were but thirty-nine legislators — thirteen in the 
Council and twenty-six in the House. It would 
seem that so small a body of men, convened in 
a church in the frontier town of Burlington for 
the purpose of legislating for a pioneer Territory, 
would not need a great many assistants. Yet 
the Legislative Assembly saw fit to provide it- 
self with clerks, janitors, firemen, and sergeants- 
at-arms to the extent of twenty-three ofiicials to 
wait upon the thirty-nine representatives of the 
people of the Territory. In other words, the 
Territory of Iowa, with a legislature hardly more 
than a third as large as that of the State of Ohio, 
had a body of legislative attendants four or five 
times as numerous. Lucas later j^ointed out the 
fact that whereas the salaries of the legislative 
ofiicials of the State of Ohio, being fixed by 
statute, would, for a seventy-five day session, 
amount to $1200, the salaries for these ofiticers 
of the legislature of the Territory of Iowa dur- 
ing the first session amounted to 16150.^^^ 

The members of the Legislative Assembly 
were well aware that the Governor would never 
give his approval to a bill authorizing so many 
assistants; and so they determined to ignore the 
legislative prerogative of the Governor. They 
passed a resolution determining the number of 



TERRITORIAL EXPENDITURES 191 

officials and fixing their salaries at from three to 
six dollars per day. The resolutions directed 
the Secretary of the Territory to pay these sal- 
aries upon the presentation of certificates signed 
by the presiding officer and chief clerk of the 
house which the individual served. But, con- 
trary to universal practice and interpretation in 
regard to joint resolutions, they did not submit 
the measure to the Governor for approval, but 
regarded their own action as final. In accordance 
with this unapproved resolution a certificate enti- 
tling Samuel W. Summers to pay as sergeant-at- 
arms was presented to Conway for payment. 

The Secretary, unwilling to take the respon- 
sibility of performing his duties upon insufficient 
vouchers, was yet anxious not to cross the Leg- 
islative Assembly. Possibly, too, he was glad 
of a chance to array the Governor and Assembly 
in opposition. At all events he shifted the bur- 
den to the executive shoulders by asking the 
advice in writing of Governor Lucas. In his 
letter he stated that his only object was ''to en- 
quire whether your Excellency would consent to 
give me a written opinion on the subject stat- 
ing whether the certificate in question, is or can 
be legally. regarded as a sufficient voucher, in set- 
tling my accounts with the Treasury Depart- 
ment of the United States." 



192 ROBERT LUCAS 

Governor Lucas replied immediately. He 
stated his belief that inasmuch as the Organic 
Act provided that the legislative power should 
be vested in the Governor and Legislative As- 
sembly, and inasmuch as it expressly specified 
that the Governor should approve all laws passed 
by the Legislative Assembly, the joint resolution 
not being presented to the Governor or receiv- 
ing his approval, was without legal authority. 
The certificate would, therefore, not constitute 
a satisfactory voucher. For the same reason he 
held that the officers named in the joint resolu- 
tion were legally unknown to the general gov- 
ernment. 

This answer to the Secretary's inquiries Con- 
way at once sent to the legislature for its con- 
sideration. It had been written not for the Leg- 
islative Assembly, but for the Secretary in re- 
sponse to a request for advice to guide him in 
the performance of his duties as disbursing agent 
of the Territory. But the submission of the 
letter to the Legislative Assembly permitted the 
Secretary to withdraw and watch the melee 
which he well knew would result from his action. 

On December 7, 1838, the legislature took the 
communication under consideration and voted 
(by joint resolution again) to adjourn until the 
tenth, but meanwhile to meet the next morning 



TERRITORIAL EXPENDITURES 193 

"in convention" (Governor Lucas being asked 
to attend) and discuss the matter. 

On Saturday morning in pursuance of the call 
the convention met. Governor Lucas, however, 
was not there. Much eloquence seems to have 
marked the session of this "friendly confer- 
ence ".^^^ Stephen Hempstead, as chairman of a 
committee appointed to draft resolutions to sub- 
mit to the convention, reported a preamble and 
several resolutions. They contained the follow- 
ing statements: 

AYhereas, the Executive has not only neglected to 
attend, but has withheld all communications from this 
convention, not even assigning his reasons for failing 
to attend : And whereas the Governor of said Territory 
in a communication to the Hon. William B. Conway^ 
of the 6th of December, 1838, declared that the Legis- 
lative Assembly of this Territory, had no vested poioer 
independent of the Governor — that a joint resolution of 
both Houses was destitute of legal authority — and that 
the Officers of the Legislative Assembly were legally un- 
known to him. Therefore be it resolved by the Council 
and House of Representatives in Convention Assembled^ 

Ist. That the Governor of this Territory is not in- 
vested by the Organic law with advisory and restrain- 
ing powers over the Legislature, further than the nom- 
ination of Territorial officers as provided by law, nor 
restraining power further than the disapproval of bills^ 
resolutions and memorials presented for his signature. 

This last sentence is significant. It concedes 

13 



194 ROBERT LUCAS 

tlie power of the Executive to veto all bills, res- 
olutions, and memorials presented for his signa- 
ture, while it implies the power of the Legis- 
lative Assembly to withhold certain bills and 
only send in for his approval such as it desired. 
Such a power had never been given to the legis- 
lature. The Organic Law specifically stated 
that the Governor should approve all laws be- 
fore they took effect; and if the legislature made 
the concession involved in their first resolution 
it was virtually conceding the entire ground. 

The convention had been called for a "friendly 
conference". Its proceedings consisted of a 
spirited discussion of the Governor's communi- 
cation to Conway. The opposition to the Ex- 
ecutive was led by Stephen Hempstead and James 
W. Grimes. On behalf of Governor Lucas, 
Gideon S. Bailey and John Frierson took the 
floor. And the Honorable Secretary Conway 
was also present and delivered an address justi- 
fying himself for communicating the opinion of 
•Governor Lucas to the Legislative Assembly. 

It is not necessary to dwell in detail upon the 
arguments of the gentlemen. Messrs. Hemp- 
;stead and Grimes confined themselves largely to 
an arraignment of the Governor for overstepping 
the bounds of his delegated authority and at- 
tempting to reduce the powers of the Legislative 



TERRITORIAL EXPENDITURES 195 

Assembly. Mr. Bailey and Mr. Frierson, on 
the other hand, protested that in no way had the 
Executive made an attempt to override the 
powers of the legislature. 

A careful examination of the facts seems to 
justify their protest. Governor Lucas had not 
vetoed the resolution for it had never been pre- 
sented to him. He had not even said he would 
veto it. He had sent no communication con- 
cerning it to the Legislative Assembly. He had 
simply given to the Secretary, upon request, his 
opinion that the certificate based upon the joint 
resolution did not constitute a sufficient voucher. 
He was exercising no executive prerogative in 
opposition to the resolution, nor was he attempt- 
ing to control the Secretary in his actions. The 
resolution had not come to him officially; there- 
fore, officially he had nothing to do with it or 
with the Legislative Assembly in relation to it. 
As regards Conway, Lucas had simply given 
him advice upon request. As Lucas stated in 
his opinion, the Secretary was the disbursing 
agent of the Territory and responsible to the 
United States Treasury for the expenditure of 
funds. He was free to spend money upon what- 
ever vouchers he chose, and the letter of Lucas 
constituted no restraint upon his powers. It 
was purely an advisory act between the Govern- 



196 ROBERT LUCAS 

or and the Secretary of the Temtory; and 
whether or not Lucas afterward gave permission 
for the transmission of the letter to the legisla- 
ture in no way altered or affected its purpose or 
official character. ^^-^ 

So much for the executive standpoint. A 
word as to Conway is necessary. The Secretary 
of the Territory was made by act of Congress 
the disbursing agent of the Territorial Govern- 
ment, and he must annually render an account 
to the Secretary of the Treasury for the expen- 
ditures of the public funds appropriated by Con- 
gress. Being, then, responsible for his accounts it 
was clearly his place to determine what he should 
consider a sufficient voucher for his payments, 
and to refuse to honor any other. Such refusal, 
however, would in this case bring him in conflict 
with the Legislative Assembly; and, remember- 
ing his late experience with that body, he wish- 
ed to avoid any repetition of difficulties. Know- 
ing well the opinions of Governor Lucas upon 
the subject, he was shrewd enough to see a way 
to preserve the good will of the Legislative As- 
sembly by involving the outspoken Executive 
in the dispute in his behalf, and then letting him 
bear the consequences. Thus he might be able 
to protect his credit with the United States gov- 
ernment and at the same time transfer the storm 



TERRITORIAL EXPENDITURES 197 

of wrath from himself to the Governor of the 
Territory. 

The action taken by the Legishitive Assembly 
was the first step in a long struggle which, on 
their part, seems to have been due to three 
causes: their attitude toward public expendi- 
tures; their idea of their own j^ositionin the gov- 
ernment; and their determination to be the dom- 
inating j)ower in the Territory. 

The members of the Assembly were little in- 
clined to look with favor upon economy in pub- 
lic expenses and shared with the Secretary the 
opinion that the Territory need not limit itself 
to the Congressional appropriation. The warn- 
ing of the Governor against extravagance in ex- 
penditures had little weight with them. 

In regard to their position in the government 
they seemed to forget that they were legislators 
of a Territory, not of a State, and that they 
could not expect to pursue their course regard- 
less of the official representative of the United 
States government. They did not seem to re- 
alize that Congress had passed the Organic Act 
advisedly and had intentionally made the Gov- 
ernor an integral part of the legislative depart- 
ment, with the definite purj^ose of imposing a 
check upon the Territorial legislature. The Or- 
ganic Act was the fundamental law of the Ter- 



198 ROBERT LUCAS 

ritoiy and sliould have been sustained regardless 
of any possible feeling on the part of young or 
inexperienced legislators that their dignity had 
been injured. 

Finally, the fact was patent that the control- 
ling faction of the Legislative Assembly had 
come to the determination to make itself the 
dominating power in the Territory and to pur- 
sue its own policy upon the expenditure of funds 
or upon any other question that might arise. 

The members of the convention for a "friendly 
conference", having, after much discussion, pass- 
ed the preamble and resolutions, closed their ses- 
sion and met again in their official capacity as a 
Legislative Assembly. They had adjourned the 
only body that had any right to take any official 
action, had met in an unofficial "convention" 
and passed resolutions regarding a communica- 
tion from a Federal officer — a communication 
which had never been intended for them, but 
for an entirely different department of the Ter- 
ritorial government. 

On December 13, the houses each passed res- 
olutions instructing the Secretary of the Terri- 
tory to pay the specified salaries. In the House 
of Representatives a certificate signed by the 
Speaker and Chief Clerk and in the Council the 
resolution itself were declared sufficient vouchers 



TERRITORIAL EXPENDITURES 199 

for such expenditure. How much these declara- 
tions really meant appeared later. 

Keassured by these resolutions Conway, on the 
15th of December, sent a long communication to 
the legislature. ^^^' He reviewed the entire matter 
and informed the members that "from a calm, 
impartial and considerate examination of the case, 
the Secretary concurs in the princi'ple for which 
the Legislature contends; and he is therefore 
constrained, by the force of conviction, to dissent 
from the opinion of the Governor." He closed 
by stating his intention of paying the salaries as 
provided for by the two houses. 

Thus, this first episode of the legislative 
struggle ended with the Secretary and Legisla- 
tive Assembly (so lately in controversy over pen 
knives) banded together in a firm alliance against 
the Governor of the Territory. 



XX 

The Executive Veto 

The events recounted in the last chapter consti- 
tuted only the beginning of the legislative strug- 
gle. Before matters between the Legislative 
Assembly and the Executive became critical the 
Governor and Secretary Conway had come to 
an open rupture. With every day their rela- 
tions had become more strained. Time had by 
no means softened the bitterness of feeling en- 
gendered by the unfortunate condition of affairs 
at the opening of the Territorial government. 

Secretary Conway, chafing under the necessity 
of exercising a subordinate office after his brief 
career as Acting Governor, systematically at- 
tempted to magnify the office of Secretary to a 
place coordinate and equal with that of Govern- 
or. He referred to his office as a "Department" 
in his official correspondence, and with great 
assumption of dignity spoke of communications 
to his "Department" from the Executive or from 
the Legislative Assembly. 

Occupying a room adjoining the office of Lu- 



THE EXECUTIVE VETO 201 

cas, he yet attended to none of the duties in 
connection with the Executive Office re(|uired of 
the Secretary by the Organic Act. Prominent 
among these duties was that of recording and 
preserving all the acts and proceedings of the 
Governor in his Executive Department. The 
acts and ])roceedings were recorded, hut not by 
Conway. Lucas himself, as the manuscript of the 
Executive Journal shows, copied in his own 
peculiar handwriting a very large proportion of 
the records, and most of the remainder seems 
to have been transcribed by Jesse Williams. 
Thus the work for which the Secretary of the 
Territory was appointed and paid fell very large- 
ly to the lot of the Executive of the Territory. ^^^ 
In many other ways the assumption of authority 
and neglect of duties by the young man in the 
Secretary's office aroused the anger of the white 
haired Governor of the Territory. 

While it is impossible as well as unjust to 
judge with absolute certainty of a man's motives, 
yet the letters and actions of Secretary Conway 
lend color to the charge made against him by 
his contemporary, James Clarke (at the time 
editor of the lo^va Territorial Gazette^ ^ that 
Conway was anxious to have Lucas supplanted, 
hoping that his own appointment as Governor 
of Iowa might follow. ^^^ 



202 ROBERT LUCAS 

The constant recurrence of aggravating actions 
on the part of the Secretary seems to have pro- 
duced in the Governor a chronic irritability which 
disturbed official negotiations and caused him to 
take measures and assume attitudes that he 
probably would not have done under ordinary 
circumstances. With this condition of affairs, 
it is not surprising that the feeling between the 
two officers of the Territory soon resulted in a 
definite break of friendly relations. 

The crisis in the intercourse between the Gov- 
ernor and the Secretary occurred in the latter 
part of the month of December, 1838. As will 
be remembered. Secretary Conway in his first 
recommendation to the Legislative Assembly 
regarding expenditures suggested the passage of 
a bill providing specifically for the various items 
of expense for which as disbursing agent of the 
Territory he was accountable. Among these he 
specifically mentioned the payment of a sum 
sufficient for the rent and furniture of the Gover- 
nor's office. Now, however, when the Governor 
presented a bill for furniture the Secretary re- 
fused to pay it, claiming that it should come out 
of the Governor's contingent fund of $350 — a 
fund provided for by the Organic Act ''to be 
expended by the Governor to defray the contin- 
gent expenses of the Territory". On the day 



THE EXECUTIVE VETO 203 

after Christmas, Governor Lucas wrote the fol- 
lowing letter to the Secretary: 

Sir. 

I wish you to inform me distinctly the reasons why 
you refuse to pay for the furniture put in the Execu- 
tive Office out of the appropriation made by Congress 
— whether you consider the Executive Office separate 
and distinct from that of the Secretary of the Territory 
— and if so your reasons for this conclusion. I would 
also, wish to know whether you do or, do not intend 
to discharge the duty required of you by the Organic 
law relative to recording the acts and proceedings of 
the Governor in his Executive Department. Nothing 
of this kind has yet been done by you, and I think it 
time that this business was done. If it is not your in- 
tention to perform these duties I wish to know it, that 
I can make a representation to the proper Department 
at Washington. 

I request an explicit and unequivocal answer to the 
above. 1^9 

Conway's reply was somewhat longer than 
the note written by Lucas. It covered nine close- 
ly written pages of foolscap and gave what was 
certainly ^'an explicit and unequivocal answer". 
In regard to the first question he was of the 
opinion that the bill presented by Mr. Evans 
(for furniture) should have been paid out of the 
fund for the ' ' ' contingent expenses of the Terri- 
tory', or out of the private coffers of the Execu- 
tive himself"; and he takes great satisfaction 



204 ROBERT LUCAS 

in adding that "this belief receives the fullest 
confirmation from a reference to the constitutional 
argument addressed, by your Excellency, to this 
Department, on the 6th inst. and to which your 
attention is very respectfully invited". 

Secondly, he replied that he did ^'consider 
the office of the Executive and that of the Sec- 
retary as 'separate and distinct', and my 'reasons' 
for this conclusion may be found in the distinc- 
tions taken between the respective ^j>6>z(;^;'<9, duties 
and responsibilities of the Governor and the Sec- 
retary, in the provisions of the Organic law". 

With regard to the recording of the executive 
acts Conway said: 

In reply to this cross examination, I have the honor 
to inform your Excellency, that all "the acts and 
proceedings of the Governor, in his executive depart- 
ment", which have been transmitted to this office, re- 
ceived prompt attention; and these, together with those 
that may be transmitted hereafter, will be disposed of, 
in strict accordance with the provisions of the Act of 
Congress. Whether these papers shall be, or shall not 
be, transmitted to this office, is a question for the grand 
consideration of your Excellency; for it will not be pre- 
sumed, that the Secretary of the Terr/^ory has the right, 
or if granted, could consent to exercise the right, of 
searching the Executive pockets, or rumaging the Execu- 
tive office, for "acts and proceedings"; nor is it at all 
understood, or admitted, that the Secretary of the Ter- 
ritory should "live, and move, and have his being", in 



THE EXECUTIVE VETO 205 

the Executive presence, and be always ready, on the 
spot, to "record" that portion of the executive wisdom 
which may be permitted to escape, through the medium 
of conversation with tnister pai'vin, or even with men 
of better breeding. 

After thus answering what he termed the "in- 
sulting enquiries" of Governor Lucas, Conway 
proceeded to review his own conduct in the office 
of Secretary: 

There is not, I repeat it, sir, a single official act of 
mine, to which exception may be fairly taken, unless it 
be the style and tone of a communication to the Legis- 
lative Council, on the 24th of November, occasioning a 
difficulty which is now happily adjusted; and into that 
difficulty, I was introduced, in the first instance, by 
officious interference with my department, on the part 
of your Excellency, and your man ^^ari'm. 

This bit of correspondence formed what Con- 
way termed the ' ''jyoint of separation between 
the Governor and the Secretary". From that 
time on, although their offices were next door to 
each other, they were not on speaking terms ; and 
the intercourse necessary between them by reason 
of their official relations was carried on in writ- 
ing or through a third person. 

Meanwhile the principle of executive veto, 
involved in the struggle over the expenditure of 
appropriations, remained a bone of contention 
between the Governor and the Legislative As- 



206 ROBERT LUCAS 

sembly.^^^ The Organic Act made no provision 
regarding the time or manner in which bills 
should be presented to the Governor or returned 
to the Legislative Assembly. To remedy this 
defect the legislature undertook, early in De- 
cember, 1838, to pass a bill regulating the inter- 
course between the Governor and the two houses. 
On December 4, 1888, a committee of two 
was appointed by the Council to confer wdth the 
Governor in the matter. The conference was 
held and a bill was agreed to and reported back 
to the Council for passage. Before it w^as passed 
by the two houses, however, it received certain 
amendments which modified the bill consider, 
ably. Governor Lucas received the amended 
bill for approval on the eighteenth of December, 
and on the day following vetoed the bill and 
returned it to the Council with the following ex- 
planation: 

In comparing the bill submitted for my consideration, 
with the one originally reported by the committee, I 
find that the section that was inserted with a view to 
keep up a mutual conference and to open the way to a 
mutual reconciliation of conflicting views, has been 
stricken from the bill; also, the time within which the 
Executive was required to return an act, etc., with his 
objection, to the Legislative Assembly, has been altered 
from ten to five days — with these alterations I can never 
concur j but am still willing to yield my assent to the 



THE EXECUTIVE VETO 207 

bill, if passed as originally reported by the committee. 
Until this is done, I must use my own discretion, under 
the Organic Law, and for your inforniatio7i yyill state 
the course I vitend to jjursue. 

All bills, resolutions, or memorials submitted to me, 
will be carefully examined, and if approved, will be 
signed and deposited in the office of the Secretary of 
the Territory. If special objections are found, but not 
sufficient to induce me to withold my assent from the 
bill, resolutions or memorials, a special note of explana- 
tion will be endorsed with my approval. 

Bills, resolutions, or memorials, that may be con- 
sidered entirely objectional or of doubtful policy, will 
be retained under advisement, or returned to the Legis- 
lative Assembly with my objections, at such time, and 
in such way and manner, as I may, for the time being, 
deem to be most advisable. 

From thenceforth Lucas had to contend with 
both the Secretary and the Legislative Assembly. 
The result of the tendency toward extravagance 
in expenditures showed itself in a resolution 
presented to the Governor on December 29, 
1838. This resolution was to the effect that 
William B. Conway be "appointed 'fiscal agent' 
of the Legislative Assembly, during its present 
session, and that all advances of money made by 
him shall be refunded to him out of such money 
as shall hereafter be appropriated by Congress." 
It received immediately the veto of the Execu- 
tive with the statement that ''this Legislative 



208 ROBERT LUCAS 

Assembly in my opinion, lias no ijower directly 
or indirectly to control the application of money 
that may be appropriated by Congress, to defray 
the expenses of the next Legislative Assembly". 

Again on the 4th of January, 1839, he vetoed 
a resolution with regard to the manner of return- 
ing bills, informing the houses that he saw no 
place in the Organic Law which vested the Legis- 
lative Assembly with the right to "dictate to the 
Executive in the discharge of his official duties". 
On the day following he vetoed another resolu- 
tion requesting him to inform the legislature of 
his sanction of bills immediately upon his ap- 
proval of the same. He stated that it was his 
desire to comply with the pleasure of the legis- 
lature, wherever possible ; but having no secretary 
or clerk in the public employ it Avas impractic- 
able for him to return bills to the houses imme- 
diately upon approval. He referred them to his 
communication of December 19, 1838, providing 
for the deposit of such bills with the Secretary, 
and concluded by asserting his intention of main- 
taining that course until a bill was passed regulat- 
ing the intercourse between the two departments. 

The veto of the resolution authorizing Conway 
to be paid out of appropriations not yet made 
by Congress, had involved that gentleman in 
some difficulties in getting money to pay for 



THE EXECUTIVE VETO 209 

the numerous items of expense connected with 
the legislature. Several other vetoes beside the 
ones above mentioned deepened the antipathy 
of the Legislative Assembly, and as the session 
drew to a close this three cornered controversy 
between Secretary, Governor, and Legislative 
Assembly became very intense. 

Soon after his break with the Governor, Con- 
way began a series of intermittent communica- 
tions to the President of the United States, 
arraigning in the most decided terms the conduct 
of his superior officer, the Governor. ^^^ He 
characterized Lucas as superannuated and irri- 
table, and complained of his '^many vexatious, 
ungraceful, petulant, ill-natured and dogmatical 
interferences, with this Department". In the 
meantime he neglected to perform duties that 
were connected with the executive office, and 
seems to have turned his best energies to cement- 
ing his friendship with the Legislative Assembly 
and disbursing funds to pay for their expenses. 

The executive veto of January 5, 1838, reached 
the House of Kepresentatives late in the after- 
noon. It was Saturday, and before adjourning 
for the week the communication was referred to 
the committee on vetoes of which the youngest 
member of the House, James W. Grimes, was 
chairman. On Monday morning Grimes Was 

14 



210 ROBERT LUCAS 

ready with the report of his comraittee. ^^^ After 
reviewing the different vetoes exercised by Gov- 
ernor Lucas, the committee assumed the rathei 
astonishing ground that the Organic Act dele- 
gated no power of veto to the Executive. "We 
have attempted to ascertain where the Governor 
derives the power of unconditionally vetoing 
bills, — but in vain. We find no such authority 
delegated in the Organic Law, and we believe 
no such power can be obtained by implication". 

They did not forget that the second section of 
their fundamental law provided that the Govern- 
or "shall approve of all laws passed by the 
Legislative Assembly before they shall take 
effect"; but this section, so Mr. Grimes reported, 
' 'makes it imperative and obligatory upon the 
Governor to approve all laws passed by the 

Legislative Assembly. " It is not left 

discretionary with him. 'He shall approve, ' etc. " 

This was certainly a curious interpretation; 
but it met the aj^proval of the legislators and 
the report was adopted. To enquire whether 
Grimes really believed in the soundness of this 
doctrine or whether he yielded to the exigencies 
of the situation and arranged his political philos- 
ophy accordingly is, perhaps, beyond the prov- 
ince of the historian. At all events it is more 
kind to remember that he was a youth of only 



THE EXECUTIVE VETO 211 

twenty-two years and that the ripe wisdom and 
mature judgment which characterized his conduct 
in the trial of President Andrew Johnson had not 
yet come to him. 

In the Council the Committee on Territorial 
Affairs, to which this veto message was referred, 
reported in like manner on January 22, 1839, 
maintaining that Congress never intended to vest 
the Governor with absolute veto power. The 
vote upon the report stood six to six; and the 
Council thereupon voted to lay the report on the 
table, but authorized James G. Edwards to print 
five hundred copies. 

In the communication of December 19, 1838, 
in which Governor Lucas had outlined his policy 
regarding the return of bills, he had said: 'Tf 
special objections are found, but not sufficient to 
induce me to withhold my assent from the bill, 
resolutions or memorials, a special note of ex- 
planation will be endorsed with my approval." 
And such notes of explanation were, indeed, 
added in the case of several bills giving fran- 
chises for ferries across the Mississippi Eiver. ^^^ 
The following is a typical instance: 

As far as this act may be construed to interfere with 
private rights, or the property of the United States, I 
consider it will be void; in other respects valid. With 
this note of explanation, I give it my assent. 



212 ROBERT LUCAS 

Such interpretation amounted to the expres- 
sion of "a judicial opinion" which, when given 
by the Executive, could have no binding force. 
But it seemed to enrage the legislature even more 
than the direct use of the veto. On January 1 5, 
1839, the House of Representatives (after a long 
preamble stating absolutely no ground for com- 
plaint except that Lucas had "been wanting notes 
and explanations on sundry laws adopted by 
both Houses") resolved that "Robert Lucas is 
'unfit to be the ruler of a free people,' and that 
a select committee be appointed to prepare and 
report a memorial to the President of the United 
States, setting forth the leading facts upon which 
the Legislative Assembly found and establish 
their objections to the continuance of Robert 
Lucas as Governor of this Territory, and pray- 
ing in strong terms for his immediate remov- 
al."^^^ The preamble and resolutions were carried 
by a vote of twelve to ten. This action was the 
immediate consequence of a communication to 
the House from Secretary Conway giving, upon 
request of the House and Council, information 
regarding bills approved by the Executive and 
mentioning in detail the use of the note of ex- 
planation by Lucas. 

Before taking further action, the House again 
took occasion to consult the Secretary. On Jan- 



THE EXECUTIVE VETO 213 

uary 17, 1839, they asked him for a report of 
all communications not of a confidential character 
on the subject of the disbursement of the public 
funds. 

The Secretary, stating that his own con-espond- 
ence and accounts with the Treasurer of the 
United States and with other officers and persons 
were as yet ''incomplete" and assuming (perhaps 
wisely) that these were not desired by the legis- 
lature, sent to the House of Representatives the 
correspondence which the Secretary and Gover- 
nor had carried on regarding the furniture for 
the Governor's office and the recording of execu- 
tive acts, which had caused the final break be- 
tween those two officers. 

Meanwhile the Governor had in no way receded 
from his position relative to the right of veto. 
Moreover, an examination of the particular bills 
vetoed does not show a despotic use of the power 
but on the contrary clearly proves that the bills 
passed by the Legislative Assembly were in 
many cases faulty and in great need of super- 
vision by an experienced Executive. 

Thus, with the Governor stubbornly deter- 
mined to uphold the provisions of the Organic 
Act as he understood them, and the Legislative 
Assembly (and Secretary Conway) as stubbornly 
determined to follow their own interpretation, 



214 ROBERT LUCAS 

affairs in the last week of the session became 
more and more stormy. By act of Congress the 
session was limited to seventy-five days. The 
seventy-fifth day was January 25, 1839. On 
January 21, Mr. Bankson, chairman of the com- 
mittee appointed in the House of Kepresentatives 
on the 15th, reported a memorial addressed to 
the President of the United States asking for 
the removal of Grovernor Lucas from office. The 
resolution passed the House without amendment. 
John Frierson then offered a resolution asking 
that, inasmuch as the motion calling for the pre- 
paration of such a memorial had only been 
passed by a majority of two, the minority might 
present a counter memorial to the President and 
spread their protest upon the Journals. But 
this privilege was refused upon motion of James 
W. Grimes. 

Excitement now became intense. From the 
House the memorial went to the Council. The 
crowd that assembled in the basement of the 
pioneer church in Burlington on Thursday morn- 
ing, the twenty-fourth day of January, was an 
intensely interested one.^^^ Beside the members 
of the Council, there were many of the pioneers 
of the capital city anxious to see the culmination 
of the legislative struggle. The excitement of 
the occasion had even attracted to the legislative 



THE EXECUTIVE VETO 215 

halls a number of ladies who were eager to wit- 
ness this crisis in legislative events. 

At eleven o'clock the memorial was presented. 
Much debate ensued, but, after slight amend- 
ment had been made, it passed the Council by a 
vote of seven to five. On the next day the session 
closed amid general disorder. As Parvin re- 
corded in his diary for that day, the "Legisla- 
ture adjourned in confusion. All drunk with 
few exceptions. "^^^ So ended the first Legisla- 
tive Assembly of the Territory of Iowa. What 
better proof could be had of the soundness of 
Lucas's subsequent judgment when he said that 
a large factor in the opposition to his adminis- 
tration had been due to the positive stand which 
he had taken against intemperance and gambling. 



XXI 

The End of the Controversy 

Soon after the adjournment of tlie Legislative 
Assembly, Governor Lucas made a tour of the 
interior and frontier of the Territory. Upon his 
return to Burlington, in March, he received a 
communication from the Secretary of State of 
the United States, enclosing not the memorial 
of the Legislative Assembly, but a secret com- 
munication of the same nature and purpose, ad- 
dressed to President Van Buren and signed on 
January 12, 1839, by eight members of the 
Council and seven members of the House of 
Kepresentatives.^^'^ 

This unofficial petition for the removal of the 
Executive stated that Lucas did not possess the 
"qualifications which are required of a Governor 
in a new Territory. " It complained that he had 
exercised the power of veto "in all cases without 
regard to judgment or propriety, and without 
respect to the feelings and rights of the Legisla- 
ture '', and that he frequently treated the mem- 
bers of the Legislative Assembly "with silent 



THE END OF THE CONTROVERSY 217 

contempt." After aiTaigning his use of the veto 
it proceeded to coademn him for his approval of 
a bill which was "highly objectionable to the 
Democratic members; but some of them voted 
for it to try the Democracy of the Governor." 

Governor Lucas on March 12, 1839, replied to 
the Secretary of State answering the charges in 
detail. ^^^ In regard to his qualifications for the 
office he said, "I will not reply, leaving that 
question with those who are acquainted with my 
public services in Ohio and else where, for many 
years past". He denied the charge of improper 
use of the veto and supported his denial by sub- 
mitting to the President all his communications 
to the Legislative Assembly relating to vetoes. 
He passed over the complaint regarding his 
treatment of members as both untruthful and 
too trivial to deserve notice. In reo;ard to his 
approval of the bill passed to '-''try the Democ- 
racy of the Governor", he replied: "I was un- 
able to discover that the bill had any relation to 
the principals of Democracy — and if these self 
styled^ Democratic members^ who they say 'voted 
for the bill to try the democracy of the Govern- 
or' could thus sport with the oaths they had 
taken at the commencement of the Session, 
''faithfully and impartially to discharge their 
duties to the best of their judgment and under- 



218 ROBERT LUCAS 

standing^ and at tlie same time to vote against 
their judgment and understanding, to try the 
democracy of the Governor; T confess that I do 
not envy the state of their moral sensibility." 

Some time later he received from the Secre- 
tary of State the official memorial of the Legis- 
lative Assembly. ^^^ It was an interesting docu- 
ment. The preamble which preceded the reso- 
lutions praying for his removal contained, as 
finally passed, twelve charges against the Gov- 
ernor. Seven of these had to do with his use 
of the veto power. The others arraigned his 
exercise of the power of appointment, his ideas 
regarding the expenditure of public funds, and 
his treatment of the legislators; and one clause 
(upon what basis it is difficult to say) charged 
him with alarming inability to command in time 
of loar. 

Lucas in reply to Secretary Forsyth stated 
that since the charges were so similar to the ones 
answered in his former communication, he would 
simply enclose a protest and remonstrance of the 
minority of the House of Representatives and a 
memorial signed by sundry citizens from all 
parts of the Territory defending the actions and 
administration of their Governor. 

The explanation made by Lucas, together 
with the vigorous defense in the protests sent 



THE END OF THE CONTROVERSY 219 

to Washington, seems to liave been entirely sat- 
isfactory to the President, for no step was taken 
for the removal of Lucas, even though Secretary 
Conway throughout the summer of 1839 sent 
frequent communications to President Van Buren 
severely criticising the Governor of the Territory 
of Iowa. 

Congress, however, passed two acts which had 
an important effect in quieting matters in Iowa. 
The first was an act limiting the veto power of 
the Governor of the Territory by allowing a ve- 
toed bill to become a law if reconsidered and 
passed by a two-thirds vote in both houses of 
the Legislative Assembly. The second act gave 
the Legislative Assembly power to "provide by 
law for the election or appointment of sheriffs, 
judges of probate, justices of the peace and 
county surveyors," thus still further restricting 
the power of the Governor. Both of these acts, 
approved by the President on March 3, 1839, 
were recognized by Governor Lucas as salutary 
measures; and it is probable that, at least with 
the first, a feeling of relief far outweighed any 
sense of loss at the removal of an executive pre- 
rogative. 

Harking back once more to the last few days 
of the first session of the Legislative Assen?bly 
of the Territory, it is interesting to note the 



220 ROBERT LUCAS 

final stages in the career of Secretary Conway 
and the outcome of the struggle over the dis- 
bursement of public money. After the Legisla- 
tive Assembly had taken the matter of expenses 
into its own hands legislative expenditures be- 
came numerous and lavish. The attempt of 
Governor Lucas to restrain this extravagance 
brought many letters of commendation and ap- 
proval from citizens both within the Tenitory 
and in other parts of the country. 

In January Thomas L. Hamer wrote to him 
from Washington: "What in the name of com- 
mon sense do they want with so many officers in 
the two Houses? They have almost as many as 
Congress — & we have double the number that 
is necessary .... I should not be surprised if 
there is trouble about funds to pay all the claims 
that will be presented from Iowa, Uncle Sam 
is just now in a mood to economize. His pockets 
are nearly empty — & will be still worse off be- 
fore the end of the year — he don't like to see 
his family — especially the younger branches of 
it indulging in unnecessary expenses." 

Nevertheless, the voting of salaries and extra 
allowances went on undiminished. The Journals 
of the last week of the session show resolution 
after resolution for the extra compensation of 
the twenty-three legislative officials or for the 



THE END OF THE CONTROVERSY 221 

appointment of assistants to these sadly over- 
worked individuals. The Clerk of the House 
and the Secretary of the Council were each 
voted $oOO, beside their regular pay, as compen- 
sation for superintending the printing of the 
Journals. 

But for all this expenditure there must be an 
accounting. A general appropriation bill enu- 
merating the various items of expense must be 
passed by the legislature, approved by the Gov- 
ernor, and sent to the Secretary of the Treasury 
of the United States. The authorization and 
sanction for all the expenditures made by the 
Secretary of the Territory rested upon this bill. 

When the last day of the session arrived the 
general appropriation bill had not been present- 
ed to the Governor for his approval. The day 
passed. The session was at last adjourned, and 
many of the members had taken their leave of 
the Governor preparatory to starting for their 
homes. Then, finally, in the evening when the 
chance for its return to the legislature — either 
approved or vetoed — was gone, there was pre- 
sented to the Governor ''an act to provide for 
the compensation of printers of the Legislative 
Assembly, and for other purposes P 

This placed Lucas in an extremely difficult 
position. Upon examination the bill was found 



222 ROBERT LUCAS 

to contain, as might have been expected, items 
of expenditure to which the Governor could not 
conscientiously give his official sanction. To 
Secretary of State Forsyth he wrote as follows: 

This last bill contains many extravagant allowances, 
which I considered unwarrantable and in voilation of 
the organic law of the Territory — among which are al- 
lowances to the secretary of the Territory, to the amount 
of seventeen hundred and fifty dollars, the greater part 
of which are for the performance of duties that I con- 
sider as properly devolving upon him as Secretary of 
the Territory and for which the United States pays him 
an annual salary of $1200— leo 

The legislature having adjourned before the bills pre- 
sented for my consideration, and being highly objec- 
tionable, were of course, filed among the Executive 
papers, to be reported to the next Legislative Assembly 
at the commencement of its session — 

In the same letter he took occasion to say in 
regard to Secretary Conway: 

He has not only done nothing to render me assist- 
ance, but, is generally believed to he the prime mover of 
the op2)ositio?i to my 2)roceeclings, and the author of the 
documents forwarded to Washington by the members 
of the Legislature — and I can briefly state if Mr. Con- 
way has performed any duty as Secretary of the Terri- 
tory further than his connection with the Legislative 
Assembly it is unknown to me. I know that he has 
not made up a page of Executive record; neither do I 
believe that he has recorded the certificates of the oaths 



THE END OF THE CONTROVERSY 223 

of the Territorial office[r]s, as required by the organic 
law. He appears to consider his ^'' Departynent'''' as he 
styles it — intirely independent of the Executive — He 
has not been at this city since the adjournment of the 
Legislature, the day following the adjournment he sent 
off (unknown to me) all the Legislative Acts of the last 
session le[a'\ving no record of them at the seat of Gov- 
ernment^ he is now at Davenport, and I presume has 
the acts of the Legislature with him. 

The Secretary of the Territory, on the day 
after the appropriation bill had been presented 
to Governor Lucas, wrote to the Governor (for 
they were not on speaking terms) requesting the 
transmission of that bill — approved or unap- 
proved — to his office, since it was important to 
him and to his securities}^^ Well might he 
deem it important to his securities! But they 
should have been considered in the months be- 
fore when he had disregarded the warning of 
Governor Lucas and thrown open the office of 
disbursing agent of the Territory to the dictates 
of the Legislative Assembly and to his ow^n per- 
sonal desires. He had been well aware that the 
Governor would sanction no such reckless leg- 
islative expenditure as the bill provided for. 
Nor is it possible that the Secretary could have 
convinced himself that an allowance of seventeen 
hundred and fifty dollars beside his regular sal- 
ary would be approved by the Executive. 



224 ROBERT LUCAS 

A possible explanation of his course is that 
lie relied upon the success of the attempt to have 
Lucas removed from office. At all events he 
had cast his lot with the Legislative Assembly 
and trusted to them for a sanction for his numer- 
ous disbursements. Now the Legislative Assem- 
bly was adjourned and could be of no further 
use to him. Conway thus found himself some- 
what in the position of a member of a firm whose 
partner has decamped and left him to face the 
debts. He now realized fully that when the 
Organic Act had made him disbursing agent for 
the Territory it had made him responsible — not 
to the Territorial legislature, but to the United 
States government. He did not succeed in ob- 
taining the appropriation bill; and after further 
trouble with the Governor over the possession 
of the Seal of the Territory /^^ i^^ i^ft for Daven- 
port, where, as he expressed himseK, "it suits 
my official and personal convenience to reside." 

Thenceforth he made frantic appeals to the 
President of the United States and to Levi 
Woodbury, the Secretary of the Treasury, for 
an order requiring Lucas to turn over to him the 
appropriation bill; but without avail. His com- 
munications to the President of the United States 
being unanswered, he finally, on July 8, 1839, in 
a communication full of servile flattery, asked 



THE END OF THE CONTROVERSY 225 

President Van Buren to return to him his ^''pri- 
vate and confident iaV correspondence. 

In the meantime the balancing of his accounts 
with the Secretary of the Treasury proceeded. 
A letter from the Comptroller's office, on June 
7, 1839, shows that Conway had included in his 
statement several items which were larger than 
the amounts the receipted vouchers showed had 
actually been paid out. Fragments only of the 
correspondence exist, and it is difficult to ascer- 
tain the exact amount of discrepancy in the ac- 
counts of the Secretary. Additional light, how- 
ever, is given by a letter of James Clarke, his 
successor in office. 

In the fall of that same year, 1839, William 
B. Conway died at Burlington during the open- 
ing days of the second Legislative Assembly. 
James Clarke, afterwards Governor of the Ter- 
ritory, was appointed in his place. In a letter 
written by Secretary Clarke on the first of May, 
1840, to W. W. Chapman, Delegate to Congress, 
regarding the public finance he said: "In addi- 
tion the deficiency of last year, as nearly as 1 
can ascertain claims are held against the Terri- 
tory of the session before to the amount of from 
four to five thousand dollars. To meet this 
there will be about three thousand dollars to be 
collected from the securities of the late Secretary 

16 



226 ROBERT LUCAS 

Conway, lie being, at the time of Ms death, a 
defaulter to that amount. "^^^ 

Conway died in his young manhood. That 
he was a man of brilliant parts seems undeniable; 
but his excessive personal ambition togethei* 
with a certain bitter intensity of spirit made him 
one who, even if he were not lacking in moral 
scruples, could serve the public best by refrain- 
ing from any participation in politics. ^^ James 
Clarke, who succeeded him, had been a friend 
of Governor Lucas; and so relations between the 
Executive and the Territorial Secretary were 
henceforth on a congenial basis. 

The first twelve months of the Territory had 
been a period of intense domestic discord. The 
next twelve months were marked by opposition 
to the aggression of a neighboring State, which 
knit together the various factions and proved 
once more the wisdom and strength of the stern 
pioneer Governor, Robert Lucas. ^^ 



XXII 

The Missouri-Iowa Boundary 

From time immemorial an instinct for territorial 
conquest has characterized mankind. Nor has 
this inherent desire been effaced with developing 
civilization. A jealous eye cast upon a neighbor's 
vineyard has caused many a quarrel; and a vague 
indeiiniteness in the determination of boundaries 
has time out of mind been the excuse for bring- 
ing armed forces face to face across the disputed 
border. The history of the territorial growth 
of the United States is checkered with these oc- 
curences, varying from an interstate quarrel over 
a changing river bed to a contest assuming the 
proportions of the Mexican War. 

The disputes over the interior division lines 
of the country have sometimes developed into 
open conflicts. Here the local feelings rise to 
the highest pitch. With angry squatters shak- 
ing their fists at each other across the line that 
separates their claims, and two equally angry 
Governors, forgetting their dignity and challeng- 
ing each other in responsive proclamations, the 



228 ROBERT LUCAS 

scene often presents a ludicrous as well as a seri- 
ous aspect. More than any other class of 
quarrels these disputes over boundaries involve 
a combination of the deepest legal and constitu- 
tional problems with the most intense feeling 
and often the most puerile action. Especially is 
this true where the contest is over a line between 
a State and a Territory; for here are encountered 
in most cases the intense convictions and ready 
resistance of the pioneer squatter. 

Robert Lucas had already, as Governor of the 
State of Ohio, participated in one of these so- 
called "border wars", where on the other side a 
Territory was concerned. Now, as the pioneer 
Governor of the Territory of Iowa, he was drawn 
into a conflict over boundaries where, in the re- 
verse of his former situation, he resisted the ag- 
gressions of a State of the Union. It is needless 
for the reader to ask whether he was as strong 
in his convictions as formerly; nor is it surpris- 
ing to note that there were those who delighted 
in reminding him of the similarity of the two 
controversies. For, although there is much 
truth in the statements with which the veteran 
Governor indignantly pointed out the differences, 
the fact still remains that the two incidents were 
in their main features strikingly parallel.^^^ 
As in Ohio so in Iowa the story of the border 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 229 

runs back to the days of the wilderness when 
the Indian paddled in solitary contentment up 
the streams that flowed from the west into the 
Mississippi, and when the forest and the prairie 
gave their game only to red-skinned hunters. 
But once did the forest yield to the blazed path- 
way of the surveyor; then through long, long 
years it lay undisturbed by the tread of the 
white man, while the gi-ass grew over the stakes 
and mounds he left in his wake and time almost 
weathered away the blazed trail where the out- 
stretched hand of civilization had sought to 
mark its line. 

Where Iowa now reaches from river to river 
was the Indian's country. It was a land about 
which little was known. Streams were called 
by now long-forgotten names; and distorted 
maps added little but misrepresentation to the 
knowledge of this far western territory. Upon 
the lands west of the Mississippi there roamed 
and struggled among themselves the Sacs and 
Foxes, the Sioux, the loways, the Osages, and 
the Pottawattamies. But upon these lands the 
white man had already cast envious eyes. 

In 1808 a treaty was made with the Osage In- 
dians whereby that tribe ceded to the United 
States all their lands north of the Missouri 
Kiver.^^^ This treaty also provided that two 



230 ROBERT LUCAS 

Indians should accompany tlie surveyor who 
was to mark their boundaries. Eight years 
afterward, in 1816, John C. Sullivan was com- 
missioned to survey the northern boundary of 
this Indian tract. Beginning on the Missouri 
River opposite the mouth of the Kansas River, 
he ran a line due north one hundred miles and 
there planted a corner post. From that point 
he ran a line due east, as he supposed, to the 
Des Moines River, establishing what was known 
as the "Sullivan Boundary Line" or the "Old 
Indian Boundary ".^^^ After many years it was 
learned that this line did not run due east but 
in a slightly northern direction striking the Des 
Moines River some four miles north of the lati- 
tude of the northwest corner post from which 
Sullivan had started. 

On the 6th of March, 1820, Congress passed 
an act authorizing the people of Missouri to form 
a State Constitution and government. This act 
desio-nated the boundaries on the west and north 
by a line beginning on the Missouri River on a 
meridian running through the mouth of the 
Kansas River, thence "north along the said me- 
ridian line to the intersection of the parallel of 
latitude which passes through the rapids of the 
river Des Moines, making the said line to cor- 
respond with the Indian boundary-line; thence 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 231 

east, from the point of intersection last aforesaid, 
along the said parallel of latitude, to the middle 
of the channel of the main fork of the said river 
Des Moines; thence down and along the middle 
of the main channel of the said river Des Moines 
to the mouth of the same, where it empties into 
the Mississippi river" ^^^ In the following year 
the State of Missouri was admitted into the 
Union, adopting as a part of its Constitution the 
section of the enabling act relative to bounda- 
ries. 

This ambiguous statement of the northern 
boundary, recorded in the ignorance of the real 
geography of the border, was bound sooner or 
later to cause misunderstanding and dispute; but 
at this time, in the prevalent lack of knowledge, 
little or no attention was paid to the constitu- 
tional provision, and only as far north as the 
Old Indian Boundary or Sullivan's Line did the 
people of Missouri exercise jurisdiction. 

Thus for years Sullivan's Line continued to 
be regarded as the northern boundary by the 
people and authorities of the State, by the ad- 
joining Territories, and by the United States 
government. In 1824, the treaty with the Sac 
and Fox Indians indicated the northwest corner 
of the State of Missouri as being north one 
hundred miles from the Missouri River at the 



232 ROBERT LUCAS 

mouth of the Kansas. And so throughout the 
years that followed the admission of Missouri 
the United States government in its treaties 
with Indian tribes, in the creation of land dis- 
tricts, and in many another way gave evidence 
that it considered the Sullivan Line the true 
northern boundary of the State of Missouri. 
Thus the understanding continued, and until 
after the close of the Black Hawk War in 1832 
no one seems to have bothered his head about 
the location of the "rapids of the river Des 
Moines." 

After the Black Hawk treaty of 1832, how- 
ever, settlers began to locate near the juncture 
of the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers; and 
soon inquiries began to be made as to the exact 
location of the Missouri line. Then it became 
evident that, according to the wording of the 
State Constitution of Missouri, the line was de- 
pendent upon the location of the rapids of the 
river Des Moines. Were they in the Des Moines 
River or were they the Des Moines rapids in the 
Mississippi, which time out of mind had been 
known by the name of "rapids of the river Des 
Moines"? Upon this problem the people began 
to ponder a little in the years preceding the for- 
mation of the Territory of Iowa. In 1834 the 
country north of Missouri which, since 1821 had 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 233 

been without a local constitutional status, was 
attached to and made a part of the Territory of 
Michigan, continuing under that jurisdiction un- 
til 1836. And so during these two years, while 
Governor Lucas of Ohio was protesting against 
the pretensions of the Territory of Michigan, 
and even massing the Ohio State militia on the 
border to face the Ten^itorial militia of Michigan 
far out in the western section of that same Ter- 
ritory of Michigan was arising another boundary 
dispute which was to reach its climax when, 
four years later, the rights of this section were to 
be championed by Governor Lucas of the Terri- 
tory of Iowa. 

In 1836, when Michigan after her many trials 
and tribulations finally entered the Union, the 
Territory of Wisconsin was created including the 
land west of the Mississippi and north of Mis- 
souri. The Organic Act of the Territory of 
Wisconsin provided that it should extend as far 
south as the northern boundary of Missouri. 
Thus the whole boundary question was be- 
queathed to the Territory of Iowa through the 
original Territory of Wisconsin. 

It must be kept in mind that at this time the 
State of Missouri did not, as now, extend on 
the west to the Missouri Kiver but only to a line 
drawn north from the Missouri Eiver at the 



234 ROBERT LUCAS 

mouth of the Kansas River. In the year 1836 
Congress provided that the jurisdiction of Mis- 
souri should be extended by proclamation of 
the President of the United States to that tract 
of land between this line and the Missouri River. 

The State of Missouri, in December of 1836, 
authorized the Governor to appoint commission- 
ers to survey the northern boundary line from 
the "rapids of the river Des Moines" west 
through the old northwest corner of the State 
and on to the Missouri River. The Governor 
was instructed to request the appointment of 
commissioners by the United States government 
and the Territory of Wisconsin to cooperate in 
the survey. Neither the Federal government 
nor the Territory of Wisconsin responded to the 
invitation; and so, according to the provisions of 
the act, Missouri proceeded alone to the survey 
of the northern boundary. Accordingly, in 1837 
the line was run and marked by Joseph C. 
Brown for and on behalf of the State. 

Assuming that the term "rapids of the river 
Des Moines" referred to the Des Moines River 
he began a search in that river for rapids. His 
final conclusion was that the only obstruction 
worthy of the name "rapids" was at the Great 
Bend about sixty-three miles above the mouth, 
and from this point he began his survey, running 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 235 

a line due west to the Missouri River. Now 
this line ran several miles north of the Sullivan 
Line and included a strip of territory which had 
been under the jurisdiction of the Territory of 
Wisconsin. An immediate and consuming wrath 
thereupon seized the citizens of Wisconsin; and 
on November 6, 1837, at a convention of dele- 
gates from Wisconsin Territory west of the Mis- 
sissippi assembled in Burlington, a memorial 
was passed praying Congress to appoint com- 
missioners to survey the boundary ^'according to 
the spirit and intention of the act defining the 
boundary lines of the State of Missouri."!'^ 

Thus matters stood when the Territory of 
Iowa was created. From the Territories of 
Michigan and AVisconsin had come this legacy 
of unsettled borders. Nor was the final adjust- 
ment of affairs to be made until Iowa, years 
afterward, had taken its place as a State in the 
Union. 

Six days after the Organic Act was passed 
creating the Territory of Iowa, Congress passed 
an act authorizing the President to cause the 
southern boundary of Iowa to be ascertained and 
marked. This was on June 18, 1838. During 
the same year Albert Miller Lea was appointed 
as the United States Commissioner for this pur- 
pose. A commissioner was to be appointed by 



236 ROBERT LUCAS 

the Territory of Iowa and one by the State of 
Missouri; but Congress provided that the survey 
should be carried on even if one or both of these 
commissioners failed of appointment. Governor 
Lucas appointed, on September 1, 1838, Dr. 
James Davis. The Governor of Missouri pleaded 
for delay. "The weather", he wrote in July, 
"will be so extremely warm for a month yet to 
come, & the flies in the Prairies so very trouble- 
some, that it will be almost impossible for you 
to proceed in the matter, with any kind of com- 
fort until about the first of September. "^^^ The 
matter ended with no appointment from Missouri. 
And so Lea and Davis began their work alone. 
They made a careful investigation of the entire 
boundary question, examining the survey recent- 
ly made by Brown as far as time would permit. 
In the month of January, 1839, Dr. James 
Davis and Albert M. Lea made their official re- 
ports — the former to the Governor of the Terri- 
tory of Iowa, and the latter to the Commissioner 
of the General Land Office. ^^^ The report of 
Lea contained a detailed discussion of the ques- 
tion, and very logically a)id fairly presented the 
claims of the different parties. In regard to 
the "rapids" he reported that there were no ob- 
structions worthy of the name "rapids" in the 
Des Moines Eiver below those at the Great 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 237 

Bend designated by Brown; and that if the river 
rose as much as three feet above the low water 
mark, even these rapids disappeared and the 
water presented an unbroken flow\ On the other 
hand the "Des Moines Rapids", which w^ere lo- 
cated in the Mississippi River just above the 
mouth of the Des Moines River, were and had 
been well known for many years. In the days 
of the early French explorations in this region, 
these rapids had been known as "Les rapides de 
la riviere Des Moines", which translated literally 
would be "the rapids of the river Des Moines." 
The line surveyed by Brown running due 
west from the rapids at the Great Bend of the 
Des Moines River would pass thirteen miles 
north of the old northwest corner of Missouri. 
A line drawn west from the Des Moines Rapids 
in the Mississippi River would, on the other 
hand, pass about a mile and a half south of the 
northwest corner. Thus there was between these 
parallels of latitude a strip of land from the Mis- 
sissippi to the Missouri approximating fourteen 
miles in width. And lying within this strip was 
the Sullivan Line, not quite parallel but running 
in a slightly oblique direction so that its eastern 
termination on the Des Moines River was about 
four miles north of its starting point at the old 
northwest corner. 



238 ROBERT LUCAS 

After a careful discussion of the various lines, 
Lea enumerated four possibilities: 

1. The old Indian boundary, or Sullivan's line, ex- 
tended west to the Missouri river. 

2. The parallel of latitude passing through the old 
northwest corner of the Indian boundary. 

3. The parallel of latitude passing through the Des 
Moines rapids in the Mississippi river. 

4. The parallel of latitude passing through the rapids 
in the Des Moines river at the Great Bend. 

He summarized with the following opinion: 

1. That the old Indian boundary or line No. 1, ex- 
tended west to the Missouri river, is the equitable and 
proper northern boundary of the state of Missouri; but 
that the terms of the law do not allow the commissioner 
to adopt that line. 

2. That the parallel of latitude passing through the 
old northwest corner of the Indian boundary, or line 
No. 2, is neither legally nor equitably the northern 
boundary of Missouri. 

3. That lines Nos. 3 and 4, or the parallels of lati- 
tude passing through the respective rapids, both fulfill 
the requirements of the law. I am not, however, pre- 
pared to say which of these lines should have the pref- 
erence. 

Although Lea suggested immediate decision 
by Congress as to what line should be deemed 
the southern boundary of the Territory of Iowa, 
the State of Missouri did not wait for such action. 
On February 16, 1839, the legislature of Missouri 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 239 

passed an act declaring that the jurisdiction of 
the State extended to the line surveyed by Brown 
in 1837. The natural outcome of this law was 
not slow in presenting itself. The officers of 
Clark County, Missouri, immediately south of 
Van Buren County, Iowa, began to assess and 
attempt to collect taxes in the territory north of 
Sullivan's line and south of Brown's line. This 
effort to exercise jurisdiction over people who 
considered themselves citizens of Van Buren 
County in the Territory of Iowa met with imme- 
diate resistance. Early in July, Governor Lucas 
received a letter from the commissioners of Van 
Buren County stating that the authorities of 
Missouri had "assessed their property", had 
''endeavored to ascertain their views in relation 
to slavery", and had "ordered that they should 
not pay the Collector of this County." ^^^ 

These events stiiTed the military spirit of 
Governor Lucas. He had been through such 
scenes before and knew what they meant. On 
July 29, 1839, he issued a proclamation,^^* stat- 
ing that the "Act to prevent the exercise of a 
foreign jurisdiction within the limits of the Ter- 
ritory" was in full force and effect in the Tem- 
tory of Iowa. It is extremely interesting to 
note that the act referred to is the identical one 
which was passed by the Legislative Council of 



240 ROBERT LUCAS 

tlie Territory of Michigan on February 12, 1835, 
and which was the basis of the arrest of Ohio 
officers in the dispute between Ohio and Michi- 
gan in which Robert Lucas had formerly par- 
ticipated. The law had been made a part of the 
laws of Wisconsin Territory, and from Wiscon- 
sin was bequeathed through the Organic Act 
to the Territory of Iowa. Now, as Governor of 
the Territory of Iowa, Lucas was using as 
grounds for action a law which four years before 
had been used to oppose his action as Governor 
of Ohio. 

The proclamation urged vigilance on the part 
of the Territorial officers in protecting the rights 
of the inhabitants of the Territory, but warned 
officers and citizens alike "under no circum- 
stances to permit themselves to become the ag- 
gressors, or to act against the citizens or author- 
ities of Missouri, without the aid of civil process, 
duly obtained from the proper judicial tribunals 
of this Territory, or the United States; and in 
all cases to act in strict obedience to the com- 
mand of such civil process — for in whatever 
form an encroachment may be made on the jur- 
isdiction of the United States, in this Territory 
the only proper mode of restraining and correct- 
ing it is through the instrumentality of judicial 
tribunals." 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 241 

Thus without counseling radical measures 
which would most certainly have resulted in 
bloodshed, Lucas took a firm stand for the pres- 
ervation of the rights of the inhabitants of the 
Territory and wisely urged the use of the civil 
rather than the military authorities in dealing 
Avith the matter. 

Across the line in Missouri the proclamation 
of the Governor of Iowa was read with great in- 
dignation; and on August 17, 1839, the citizens 
of Clark County, meeting at their county seat, 
Waterloo, passed protesting resolutions and sol- 
emnly pledged themselves to aid in "supporting 
unsullied the dignity and honor of the State."^^^ 

Governor Lilburn Boggs, of Missouri, was 
also somewhat aroused by the proclamation, and 
in answer to it issued one of his own on the 
23rd of August. He instructed the officers of 
Missouri, "civil and military", to faithfully exe- 
cute the laws; and if any obstructions to the ex- 
ercise of their duties were encountered they were 
authorized to call to their aid the "power of the 
county". He ordered the officers of the militia 
to hold themselves in readiness to render assist- 
ance, and closed by expressing his personal re- 
gret at the condition of affairs. ^'^ 

Once more did the Governor of Iowa Territory 
come forth with a proclamation.^" This time he 

16 



242 ROBERT LUCAS 

went into the question rather exhaustively. He 
contended that Missouri was the aggressor inas- 
much as Iowa was exercising jurisdiction only as 
far as the line which, from the organization of 
the State of Missouri down until a very recent 
time, that State had acknowledged as its northern 
border — namely, the Sullivan Line. He showed 
by Indian treaties made by the United States; 
by the creation of land districts by act of Con- 
gress; by proclamation of the President of the 
United States regarding land sales in Iowa; by 
maps of the State of Missouri drawn only a few 
years after her admission into the Union; and 
even by statements of the late Governor Clark 
of Missouri, that both the United States govern- 
ment and the State of Missouri had considered 
the Sullivan Line as the true northern boundary 
from the time of the admission of the State 
until the year 1837. 

He reiterated and emphasized the theory — so 
clearly expressed in his former border dispute 
while Governor of Ohio — that the dispute was 
not a matter between the State of Missouri and 
the Territory of Iowa, but between the State of 
Missouri and the United States wherein the 
authorities of Iowa were simply the Territorial 
agents of the United States. He pointed out 
the fact that the official report of United States 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 243 

Commissioner Lea liad been referred to Con- 
gress, and maintained that Congress alone had 
the constitutional right to settle the matter. 
With its decision the authorities of the Territory 
of Iowa would abide; but until the decision was 
made, no other boundary could be acknowledged 
than the one which all parties had for so many 
years conceded to be the true one and up to 
which jurisdiction had always been exercised. 

Inasmuch as the Governor of Missouri had 
asked the authorities of the State, both "civil 
and military", to hold themselves in readiness 
to enforce jurisdiction over the strip of land 
under discussion. Governor Lucas called the at- 
tention of the United States Attorney and the 
United States Marshal for the district to the 
matter, asking them to exercise vigilant prompt- 
ness in exercising the authority of the United 
States within the jurisdiction of the Territory of 
Iowa. 

He called upon the civil authorities believing 
them sufficiently powerful to protect the rights 
of citizens. " Should the Marshal of the United 
States, however, under any circumstances deem 
it expedient to call to his aid in the service, or 
execution of civil process, a posse comitatus^ of 
armed men, he has the whole force of the Ter- 
ritory at his command". In conclusion he ex- 



244 ROBERT LUCAS 

horted the citizens of Van Bureu County to be 
discreet in their acts, assuring them of the pro- 
tection of the United States authorities. 

Through the fall months of 1839 the tension 
of feeling increased. Along the border, attempts 
by both sides to exercise jurisdiction created 
constantly increasing irritation. About the mid- 
dle of October, Henry Heffleman, Sheriff of Van 
Buren County, wrote to Governor Lucas inform- 
ing him that the Sheriff of Clark County, Mis- 
souri, had made his appearance in Van Buren 
County, Iowa, to collect taxes; and that upon 
being refused payment he had reported to the 
authorities at Waterloo, Missouri, whereupon a 
force of several hundred men was being collected 
in Waterloo to march across the border for the 
purpose of taking the property of those re- 
fusing to pay taxes. 

Again, on the twenty-fourth of October, Hef- 
fleman wrote to Governor Lucas of an attempt 
to arbitrate matters on the border. A delega- 
tion of seven men from Clark County, Missouri, 
met a delegation of the same number from Van 
Buren County, Iowa, on Indian Creek in the lat- 
ter county. The Clark County delegates sub- 
mitted a set of propositions contemplating the 
suspension of all military operations on the 
border and the exercise of concurrent jurisdiction 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 245 

of civil matters by the officers of the two counties 
until the (j^uestion was settled."^ 

But the delegates from Van Buren County 
would consider no proposition looking toward 
concurrent jurisdiction. The meeting ended in 
failure, and the Missouri authorities were in- 
structed to collect taxes in the disputed tract. 
The Sheriff of Clark County proceeded, accord- 
ingly, to the discharge of his appointed duty in 
the land north of Sullivan's line. On October 
26, two days later, a letter signed by Governor 
Lucas and by Charles Mason and Joseph Williams 
(Judges of the Supreme Court of the Territory), 
was sent to the United States Marshal for the 
Territory of Iowa, Francis Gehon, informing 
him of the situation and urging his immediate 
presence on the border and his prompt attention 
to the affair. 179 

October passed and November came. Citi- 
zens of the border line now sent the information 
that orders had been issued by Governor Boggs 
for troops to assist in the collection of taxes in 
the disputed tract. Before the end of the month 
a decisive step had been taken which was of 
great effect in precipitating matters. Uriah S. 
Gregory, Sheriff of Clark County, while attempt- 
ing to collect taxes north of the Sullivan Line 
was arrested on November 20, 1839, by Sheriff 



246 ROBERT LUCAS 

Heffleman, of Van Buren County. ^^^ After writ- 
ing to Governor Lucas, on November 2 2d, and 
reporting the capture, Heffleman took liis pris- 
oner to Burlington. Here Lucas had a confer- 
ence with Gregory, advising him to enter into 
recognizance and return home. He also assured 
the Sheriff from Missouri that, should he be 
convicted, he would as Executive feel disposed 
to remit the penalty. ^^^ 

The Missouri Sheriff, however, refused to 
enter into recognizance (being thus advised by 
his counsel in Missouri), but preferred to remain 
in the custody of the law. Sheriff Heffleman, 
therefore, removed him to Bloomington, "some 
distance from the seat of excitement", and gave 
him over to the custody of the Sheriff' of Mus- 
catine County. As a matter of fact Gregory 
never was put in confinement, but was allowed 
his liberty. Together with his wife and child, 
who accompanied him, he boarded with Josiah 
Parvin, the hotel-keeper of Bloomington. ^^^ 

While the hapless Sheriff was thus self-exiled 
in the enemy's territory, interesting events were 
occurring on the border line. The mails Avere 
stopped, private property was taken, and town 
and county meetings were passing resolutions 
looking toward hostile demonstrations. Here 
and there local military companies were formed, 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 247 

while lead was being melted into bullets intended 
for the neighbors across the line. 

Governor Lucas in this crisis turned to the 
United States authorities for instructions. Un- 
der date of October 3, 1839, he wrote to the 
Secretary of State, John Forsyth: "It appears 
to be my misfortune, to be drawn irresistably, 
into a controversy with the authorities of the 
State of Missouri, on the subject of boundary." 
He enclosed documents for the information of 
the United States government and expressed 
his desire for suggestions and advice. ^^^ 

Upon the Governor's request, Charles AVeston, 
United States Attorney for the Territory of 
Iowa, gave his official opinion, on December 6, 
1839, as to the course to be pursued. He stated 
that until Congress should decide the question 
as to the disputed tract it was the duty of the 
United States Marshal for the Territory to en- 
force the rights of citizens in that tract, aided if 
necessary by a sufficient force of the Territorial 
militia. He particularly stated, however, that 
this militia force should be in aid of and subor- 
dinate to the civil authority. ^^ 

Keports coming at this time from the border 
relative to the embodiment of an armed force by 
Missouri hurried the course of events. In pur- 
suance of the opinion given by the United States 



248 ROBERT LUCAS 

Attorney, Governor Lucas on the same day, De- 
cember 6, 1839, sent orders to Major Generals J. 
B. Brown, Jonathan Fletcher, and Warner Lewis 
of the three divisions of Iowa militia requesting 
them to take measures to furnish to the United 
States Marshal of the Territory such forces as he 
might from time to time require. ^^^ He also sent 
a copy of these orders to the Marshal and left 
the matter of using the militia as a j^osse comita- 
tiis entirely in his charge. Thus the statement so 
often made that Governor Lucas called out the 
militia of the Territory to resist the aggressions 
of Missouri, is without foundation in fact. He at 
no time issued an order embodying the militia 
as such, nor did the militia ever receive march- 
ing orders except as a 2^os8e comitatus^ being in 
aid of and subordinate to the civil authorities. 

Immediately upon receipt of the Governor's 
letter the Marshal made requisitions for troops 
and preparations were soon being made for a 
body of armed men to march to the front as 2^ posse 
Gomitatns to aid the civil officers in supporting 
the jurisdiction of the United States. In many 
places there was not a great deal of enthusiasm 
in the volunteering of services. Especially was 
this true in the northern part of the Territory. 
Warner Lewis wrote to Governor Lucas of the 
difficulty experienced in getting sufficient re- 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 249 

emits; but reported tlie mustering of about five 
hundred men, over half of whom started on the 
march to the border. The reluctance of the 
men to leave their families, the inclemency of 
December weather, and the uncertainty about 
the pay for their services all operated to render 
very difficult the raising of troops. The men 
also questioned the power of the Marshal to 
force them to go, or to punish them for not going. 

It was not many days, however, before regi- 
ments organized from various parts of the Terri- 
tory were on their way across the country to the 
Missouri frontier. From Dubuque and Bloom- 
ington and Burlington and many other settle- 
ments this frontier army, a motley throng of 
from five hundred to a thousand men, made their 
way to the border. They were untrained and 
ill prepared for winter weather. Their uniforms, 
where such existed, were a humorous assortment; 
and their eipipment of arms ranged from blun- 
derbuses and flintlocks to quaintly shaped and 
rusty swords which had perchance adorned the 
w^all for many generations, telling of w^arlike 
ancestors. An unorganized yet valiant body of 
troops, it was officered by such men as S. C. 
Hastings, James ^Y. Grimes, Jesse B. Brown, 
and Augustus C. Dodge.^'^^ 

At Farmington in Van Buren County this Ter- 



250 ROBERT LUCAS 

ritorial army gathered and faced across the bor- 
der line at AVaterloo a similar force from the 
militia of Missouri. 

In the meantime Governor Lucas was making 
every effort to ascertain the condition of affairs 
on the boundary line and keep the United States 
authorities informed thereof. Stephen Which er, 
a prominent and a very capable member of the 
bar, was appointed to proceed to the border and 
learn what he could of the exact movements of 
the Missourians.^^^ His report from Farmington 
on December 10,1889, to Deputy Marshal Hen- 
dry confirmed the statements that Missouri had 
actually embodied a militia force for the purpose 
of enforcing the jurisdiction of Missouri in the 
disputed tract. Whicher had mingled with the 
men and officers at Waterloo and was told by 
them that ten thousand troops were being 
mustered in Missouri to march upon the border. 
He remarked very favorably upon the unex- 
pected decorum and lack of excitement among 
the officers of this army. 

During these rumours of war the Legislative 
Assembly was in session at Burlington. The 
fever of battle seems to have stirred them some- 
what, for on the sixth of December, 1839, a 
motion was made to adjourn the House and 
allow the members to participate in the expected 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 251 

conflict. 1^^ The motion, however, did not carry 
and the legislature remained in session. On the 
next day, Saturday, a delegation appointed by 
the County Court of Clark County, Missouri, 
arrived at Burlington to attempt an amicable 
arrangement of matters. The legislature had 
adjourned until Monday; and so the delegates 
appeared before a meeting of citizens of various 
parts of the Territory, assembled at the State 
House in Burlington. They proposed a set of 
resolutions whereby both parties were to cease 
to exercise civil jurisdiction in the disputed tract, 
until the question was settled. Hostile opera- 
tions were to be suspended and Iowa and Mis- 
souri were to have "equal and uninterrupted 
jurisdiction" in criminal cases in the Territory 
under controversy. Good feeling pervaded the 
meeting and the propositions and proceedings 
were ordered to be sent to the papers of both 
Missouri and Iowa. Since, however, no author- 
ity resided in the conference, the meeting resulted 
simply in the proposal of the resolutions as a 
possible solution of the present difficulty.^^^ 

On Monday afternoon the House of Represent- 
atives, although not ready to agree to the prop- 
ositions of the Clark County delegates, passed 
resolutions requesting Governor Boggs to au- 
thorize a suspension of hostilities until July 1 



252 ROBERT LUCAS 

1840, and asking Governor Lucas to suspend all 
military operations on the part of Iowa until the 
decision of Governor Boggs was learned. After 
passing the Council theseresolutions were present- 
ed on the thirteenth of December to Governor 
Lucas, who returned them three days later with 
his veto. He objected to the preamble which 
spoke of "difficulties hitherto existing between 
the State of Missouri and the Territory of loioa^ 
He again emphasized the fact that the dispute 
was between Missouri and the United States ^ and 
added that he could not agree to any transaction 
which would come in conflict with his solemn 
obligation "to take care that the laws of the 
United States be faithfully executed." The 
resolutions were, neverthless, passed over his veto; 
and although Governor Boggs of Missouri viewed 
them with as little favor as did Lucas, yet they 
aided in the quieting of matters upon the border. 
Deputy Marshal Hendry, of the Territory of 
Iowa, during these days was gathering under his 
charge at Farmington the force of Territorial 
militia as a posse comitatus. Before proceeding 
to decisive military measures, however, he wisely 
decided to send a deputation to Waterloo with 
the hope of securing a peaceful settlement of the 
immediate difficulties. General Brown, there- 
fore, following the instructions of the Marshal, 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 253 

appointed Augustus C. Dodge, J. A. Clark, and 
James Churcliman, as a committee for that pur- 
pose. On the thirteenth of December they 
proceeded to Waterloo, in Clark County, where 
the Missouri forces were encamped.^-'^ Here 
they met wdth the intelligence that the troops 
of Missouri had been dismissed in obedience to 
an order of the County Court of Clark County, 
and received assurances that all hostilities on the 
part of Missouri had been suspended and that no 
effort would thereafter be made to enforce juris- 
diction upon the disputed tract until the general 
government had arrived at a decision. 

General Dodge and his companions returned 
to the Iowa side, and the frontier army that had 
gathered at Farmington was disbanded. It was 
with general satisfaction that the posse comitatus 
from the young Territory packed its pots and 
kettles, folded its tents, and, shouldering its non- 
descript arms, took its homeward way across the 
Territory. Here and there they met troops on 
the march to the border to whom they told the 
welcome news of peace. Thus the pioneer force, 
mustered in a week to fight the battles of the 
border, dissolved with greater celerity than it 
gathered, and returned to tell tales of feats that 
might have been. And the gay enthusiasm of 
their home-coming and the wild carousing by 



254 ROBERT LUCAS 

which some of the troops celebrated the disband- 
ing no way proves that their valor would have 
been any the less in case of actual conflict. ^^^ 

This occurence, however, was but the avoid- 
ance of a crisis on the border line. The question 
was by no means settled. But, though Govern- 
or Boggs did not sanction the action of the 
County Court of Clark County in regard to a 
suspension of military operations, the excitement 
had, neverthless, subsided and danger for the 
present was past. 

The question now came before Congress for 
settlement. Governor Lucas had sent James M. 
Morgan to Washington early in December with 
despatches to the government and as a represent- 
ative of the Territory. The matter of the dis- 
puted boundary was threshed over in Congress 
for session after session without settlement. The 
claims of Iowa were valiantly upheld by W. W. 
Chapman, Delegate to Congress from the Tem- 
tory, by Augustus C. Dodge who succeeded him, 
and by Garrett Davis, of Kentucky, Chairman of 
the Committee on Tenitories to which the bound- 
ary dispute was referred. ^^^ 

Finally, on June 17, 1844, Congress passed 
an act providing for the appointment of Com- 
missioners by the Governors of the State of 
Missouri and the Territory of Iowa who with a 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 255 

third party to be cliosen by them were to ascer- 
tain and mark out the northern boundary of 
Missouri. The line established by these Com- 
missioners was to be final and conclusive and to 
be and remain the true northern line of the State. 
The provision was made, however, that the act 
was to go into effect only upon the assent of the 
legislature of the State of Missouri. This proved 
fatal; for, although an act giving assent passed 
the legislature of Missouri, it was vetoed by 
Governor J. C. Edwards who, as a former rep- 
resentative of Missouri in the lower house of 
Congress, had opposed strenuously any tendency 
toward favoring the claims of the Territory of 
Iowa. Accordingly the Congressional act failed 
of its mission. ^^^ 

It seemed now that the only solution of the 
problem was the submission of the question to 
the Supreme Court of the United States. Ap- 
plication to Congress for a law for this purpose 
was made in 1845 and 1846 by both Missouri and 
Iowa; and Congress, on August 4, 1846, passed 
an act authorizing the submission of the question 
to that tribunal. ^^^ 

Iowa had now been admitted as a State — 
which fact gave to the Supreme Court original 
jurisdiction in the controversy. An agreed case 
was arranged and tried in the December term 



256 ROBERT LUCAS 

of 1848. The counsel for Iowa was Charles 
Mason assisted by Thomas Ewing of Ohio. The 
decision handed down declared the Sullivan Line 
to be the true northern boundary, thus substan- 
tiating the claim made by Governor Lucas and 
the people of the Territory of Iowa. The Court 
decided that there were no "rapids", such as the 
Missouri State Constitution called for, in the 
Des Moines River. On the other hand it held 
that since the United States authorities in the Ter- 
ritorial days of Iowa had "by many acts, and by 

uniform assumptions recognized and 

adopted Sullivan's line" Iowa could not claim 
rightfully, as she assumed to, any land south of 
that line. 

The court appointed Commissioners to survey 
the old Sullivan Line and carefully remark it, 
extending it on the west to the Missouri River, 
which was done in the summer of 1850. Upon 
the report of the Commissioners, the Supreme 
Court entered a final decree adjudging the line 
surveyed by them to be the true boundary line 
between the State of Missouri and the State of 
Iowa. 

And so, after a dozen years of doubt, the 
question which had so long troubled the trans- 
Mississippi settlers was at last decided. Time 
had brought much change. Robert Lucas was 



THE MISSOURI-IOWA BOUNDARY 257 

now living in quiet retirement on his farm near 
Iowa City, waiting with calm patience the step 
that is not far off from the man who has lived 
his three score and ten years. Back in the days 
of his Governorship when the critical times of 
the controversy were being endured and when 
civil war seemed inevitable he had with unre- 
lenting firmness held to the principles that 
seemed to him to mark the lines of his official 
duty. The boundary for which he had so many 
years ago contended was now confirmed by the 
highest court of the land. And the news com- 
ing to him in his quiet old age must have 
brought with it as he turned his mind back in 
reminiscence a peculiar sense of satisfaction. 



17 



XXIII 

Removal from Office 

While tlie Territorial government of Iowa had 
been racked with internal dissensions and involv- 
ed in a boundary dispute, the population had 
been growing with marvelous rapidity. And 
with this increase in numbers had come many 
improvements. The First Legislative Assembly 
had, in January of 1839, appointed Commissoners 
to locate the permanent seat of government in 
Johnson County, to survey and lay out the new 
town, and commence the erection of a new capi- 
tol building. In May of 1839 the Capital Com- 
missioners met at Napoleon in Johnson County 
and began operations and surveys which resulted 
in the laying out of Iowa City on the east bank 
of the Iowa River. 

Prior to the public sale of lands in Johnson 
County, claims were made by settlers who band- 
ed themselves together for self protection and 
the equitable adjustment of their claims in an 
organization known as the "Claim Association 
of Johnson County." Among the members who 



REMOVAL FROM OFFICE 259 

signed their names to the constitution of this 
Claim Association, in March, 1839, was Robert 
Lucas; and among the recorded claims is one 
purchased by Lucas, in February, 1839, of John 
Kight and lying immediately south of what 
later became Iowa City.^^-^ Upon this land Gov- 
ernor Lucas afterwards built a home in which he 
lived the last years of his life. 

Through the summer months, after the site 
of the new capital had been laid out by the Com- 
missioners, buildings began to appear, laborers 
came in to aid in the erection of the Capitol, and 
soon a thriving town was developed on the banks 
of the Iowa. 

In the autumn of 1839 Governor Lucas, ac- 
companied by his two daughters and General 
Jonathan Fletcher, of Muscatine, made a visit on 
horseback to the new seat of government. While 
there they lodged with Mathew Teneick in a 
house built of hewn logs and standing at the 
corner of Iowa Avenue and Dubuque Street. ^^^ 

By the summer of the following year the Com- 
missioners were ready for the laying of the cor- 
ner-stone of the new Capitol.^^ The ceremony 
took place on the Fourth of July, 1840, upon 
which occasion Governor Robert Lucas again 
visited Iowa City and delivered the principal 
address. In the city park a public dinner was 



260 ROBERT LUCAS 

served, and the celebration was attended with 
great enthusiasm. 

The rapid growth of the Territory early sug- 
gested to Robert Lucas the formation of a State 
government. In his message to the second Leg- 
islative Assembly he recommended the passage 
of a memorial to be sent to Congress asking that 
body to take the necessary measures to allow 
the people of Iowa to form a State constitution 
and government. He also advocated the passage 
of an act by the Legislative Assembly to provide 
for the calling of a constitutional convention as 
soon as Congress should pass an enabling act. 
The Governor even went so far as to suggest 
boundaries for the new State, recommending the 
Mississippi and Missouri rivers on the east and 
west, and the St. Peters, Blue Earth, and Calu- 
met or Sioux rivers on the north. 

The legislature of the Territory, however, took 
no action during this session, but before adjourn- 
ing made arrangements for the holding of a 
special session on July 13, 1840. Lucas now 
proposed a different line of action. A bill had 
been by this time reported to the national House 
of Representatives by the Committee on Terri- 
tories, enabling the people of Iowa to form a 
constitution and State government. Assuming 
that this bill would pass Congress, Governor 



REMOVAL FROM OFFICE 261 

Lucas suggested to the Assembly the passage 
of a law providing for "taking the sense of the 
people of this Territory on the subject of a Con- 
vention at the ensuing annual election." The 
Assembly carried out this suggestion, and in the 
fall election of 1840 the question was submitted 
to a vote of the people of the Territory. The 
result was 937 votes for and 2907 votes against 
the holding of a convention. Thus it was evi- 
dent that the people considered the movement 
premature, and so Lucas refrained from further 
agitation of the matter. 

The Governor of the Territory of Iowa was at 
the same time Superintendent of Indian Affairs 
for the Territory, an office which entailed upon 
Robert Lucas no small amount of business. There 
was a great deal of correspondence to be carried 
on with the Indian agents and with the United 
States authorities. For aid in this superintend- 
ency Jesse Williams seems to have been employed 
under the title of Messenger, and the press of 
coiTespondence seems to have induced Governor 
Lucas to employ AVilliams in the additional 
capacity of Clerk in the Department of Indian 
Affairs with the hope that the government would 
see the need for such service and provide com- 
pensation therefor. This item of expense in 
the final accounts of Lucas with the general gov- 



262 ROBERT LUCAS 

ernment was, however, disallowed by tlie Secre- 
tary of the Treasury. ^^^ Lucas negotiated no 
treaties with the Indian tribes, but his efforts 
were called into service to secure the proper dis- 
tribution of the government annuities already 
provided for and to protect the Indians against 
the exploitation of traders and trading com- 
panies.^^^ 

Thus with the succession of stirring events 
and busy office duties the three years of pioneer 
governorship allotted to Robert Lucas passed 
quickly by. The election of AVilliam Henry 
Harrison in the fall of 1840 as the new Presi- 
dent of the United States sealed the fate of the 
Democrats for the time being in the Territory 
of Iowa. Particularly did the election of this 
veteran Whig remove all hope for the reappoint- 
ment of Governor Lucas; for a personal enmity 
had existed between these two individuals for 
nearly thirty years. Away back in the campaign 
on the Sandusky in the War of 1812, Lucas as a 
Brigadier General had reported to a meeting of 
Ohio Militia officers in General Harrison's camp 
resolutions strongly condemning that officer. 
Again in the presidential campaign of 1837, 
when William Henry Harrison was defeated for 
the Presidency by Martin Van Buren, Lucas 
had indignantly repudiated charges of his favor- 



REMOVAL FROM OFFICE 263 

ing Harrison and had used his efforts to defeat 
that gentleman in his own State of Ohio. Ac- 
cordingly, the removal of Governor Lucas was 
expected and speculation became rife as to who 
would be his successor. 

General James Wilson of New Hampshire 
was prominently mentioned as a possibility; while 
from the Tenitory of Iowa two candidates, 
Philip Viele and Joseph C. Hawkins, went to 
Washington to present their claims.^^^ The choice 
fell, however, upon Colonel John Chambers of 
Kentucky, a life-long friend and companion-in- 
arms of President Harrison. 

It was the general expectation, however, that 
the change of officers would not be made until 
the expiration of the term on July 4, 1841. But 
President Harrison lost no time in making ap- 
pointments. He was inaugurated on March 4th, 
and on the twenty -fifth of the same month a 
commission was made out to John Chambers as 
Governor of the Territory of Iowa. Ten days 
later Chambers stood by the death bed of the 
President. 

The new Governor soon started to the Terri- 
tory of Iowa. On the twelfth of May he reached 
Burlington where he was greeted at the wharf by 
a delegation of citizens and welcomed on their 
behalf by James W. Grimes.^^^ 



264 ROBERT LUCAS 

In the meantime Lucas had received no official 
notice of a change in the office of Grovernor and 
had continued in the exercise of his duties as 
usual. On April 30, 1841, he issued a proclama- 
tion to the effect that the next Legislative As- 
sembly would convene in Iowa City, where, 
although the new capitol was still unfinished, 
accommodations had been generously promised 
by the citizens. 

When Chambers reached Burlington, Lucas 
was out of town and did not return until some 
time later. Chambers, however, without sending 
any word to his predecessor or bringing to him 
any notice of his removal, took the oath of office 
on May 13, 1841, and began the exercise of 
official duties. On June 17th, a few days after 
his return to Burlington, Lucas received a letter 
from Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, notify- 
ing him of the appointment of John Chambers 
as his successor and asking him to turn over to 
the new Governor "after he shall have arrived in 
said Territory" the books, papers and other 
property of the United States in his possession. 
This belated notice was answered by Lucas on 
the following day. He wrote that before leaving 
Burlington he had, hearing of the appointment 
of Colonel Chambers, left instructions that the 
"Seals of Office, with all the appendages," should 



REMOVAL FROM OFFICE 265 

be delivered to liim upon his I'equest, should he 
arrive in the absence of Lucas, present his cre- 
dentials and file a certificate of his oath of office. 
He expressed his astonishment that neither the 
new Governor nor the United States authorities 
had hitherto sent him any notice. "I shall", he 
remarked in closing, "from the receipt of your 
letter [June 17, 1841], consider my commission, 
as Governor of Iowa Territory revoked."^^^ 

Thus ended the Governorship of Robert Lucas. 
It had not been a peaceful term of office. The 
opening had been marred by the intrigues of an 
ambitious subordinate. The close was a spectacle 
of the inexorable working of the Spoils System. 
There had been stormy sessions of the Legisla- 
tive Assembly and much difference of opinion. 
Many were the enemies made by the stern old 
Governor and feeble was the appreciation, at the 
time, of the great service he was performing. 
But years of calm retrospection have brought to 
the people of Iowa a keener insight into the 
honest and capable statesmanship of Robert 
Lucas and a constantly increasing respect for the 
stalwart pioneer Executive of the Territory of 
Iowa. 

Soon after his removal from office, Lucas seems 
to have made his home at Bloomington (now 
Muscatine), being admitted as early as June 29, 



266 ROBERT LUCAS 

1841, to the Masonic Lodge at that place. ^^^ 
Here for nearly two years he lived a quiet life, 
occasionally speaking at a Democratic meeting 
or addressing a temperance society and now and 
then making a trip to Burlington or Iowa City. 

When Lucas left Ohio in the summer of 1838 
he came to the new Territory alone. In the 
spring of 1839 William Reed, a nephew of Rob- 
ert Lucas, made a trip to Iowa and brought with 
him by steamboat two of the Governor's daugh- 
ters, Abigail and Mary. And during the same 
year, Edward, the fourteen year old son of the 
Governor, started across country from Piketon to 
Burlington on horseback by way of Circle ville, 
Indianapolis, and Peoria. A manuscript expense 
account of this trip shows that the boy reached 
Burlington with an expenditure of only 123. 37i. 
The story is told that Edward, having arrived 
at Burlington on his fourteenth birthday, cele- 
brated the occasion by catching three catfish and 
threshing a boy who kicked his hound dog. 

Meanwhile Mrs. Lucas still clung to the old 
home at Friendly Grove. But the accounts from 
the TeiTitory gradually modified her determina- 
tion to remain in Ohio, and she finally decided 
to visit Iowa and see how she liked it. It was 
sometime during the year of 1840 that she came 
out to the frontier to rejoin her husband. 



XXIV 

Later Politics 

On May 16, 1843, Robert Lucas and his family 
left Bloomington on the steamboat "Iowa" and 
returned to Ohio. His purpose was presumably 
to wind up his affairs in Ohio, for his correspond- 
ence during the years of his Governorship shows 
that he still owned considerable property in that 
State. 

The five years of absence had not effaced the 
memory of Robert Lucas from the minds of his 
political friends in Ohio. On August 31, 1843, 
a Democratic convention of the 8th Congression- 
al District of Ohio met in Chillicothe. Allen 
G. Thurman, the former Private Secretary of 
Lucas during his Governorship in Ohio, was 
Secretary of this convention. On the second 
ballot the convention nominated Robert Lucas 
as the Democratic candidate for Congressman in 
the 8th District. The nomination had not been 
sought for by Lucas, but he acceded to the wishes 
of his friends and entered the race. But he was 
doomed to disappointment. The election result- 



268 ROBERT LUCAS 

ed in a victory for tlie Whigs, and John I. Van 
Meter, who had defeated Lucas for the State 
Senate in his last campaign in Ohio in 1837, 
was chosen to represent the district in the na- 
tional House of Representatives.-^^ 

In the early spring of the next year (1844), 
having sold the farm at Friendly Grove, Robert 
Lucas returned to Iowa, and made Iowa City his 
home. Here he built a house which still stands 
upon the claim he had bought years before on 
the south edge of the town. By the summer of 
1844 Iowa City had assumed thriving propor- 
tions and, as the new capital, was taking a 
prominent part in the politics of the Territory. 

The topic which now engrossed the attention 
of the people of the Territory was the formation 
of a State government. The question of calling 
a constitutional convention, which had been so 
overwhelmingly voted down in 1840, had been 
submitted to the people at the August election 
in 1842, and again defeated. In April of 1844, 
however, a third vote by the people of the Ter- 
ritory resulted in a large majority favoring a 
constitutional convention; and so the campaign 
began for the election of members of the con- 
vention.-^^ 

The campaign of 1844 was carried out on 
party lines. Johnson County was entitled to 



LATER POLITICS 269 

three delegates. Of the three candidates nomi 
nated by the Democrats, Robert Lucas was one. 
The election was to take place on August 5, 
1844. Now the laws of the Legislative Assembly 
which provided for the election of delegates, up- 
on a favorable vote at the April election, had 
stated that "said delegates shall be citizens of 
the United States, and shall have resided six 
months within the Territory before the election 
aforesaid." Since Lucas had returned from Ohio 
during the month of February or March he had 
not been a resident of the Territory for six months 
immediateli/ preceding the election. This point 
was made much of by his opponents, and the 
added fact that he had run for office the fall be- 
fore in the State of Ohio gave opportunity for 
them to brand him as a confirmed office-seeker. ^^^ 

But the eminent fitness of the Ex-Governor as 
a constitution-maker could not be questioned, and 
the faith of the Democrats in their venerable 
chief was not to be shaken by technicalities of 
residence. The election in Johnson County re- 
sulted in the choice of Henry Felkner and Rob- 
ert Lucas (both Democrats) and Samuel H. Mc- 
Crory, one of the Whig candidates. 

On October 7, 1844, the Convention met in 
the Old Stone Capitol in Iowa City and held 
session for twenty-six days, adjourning on No- 



270 ROBERT LUCAS 

vember 1, 1844.^^ Kobert Lucas was appropriate- 
ly placed at the head of the Committee on the Ex- 
ecutive Department, and in the debates contended 
strongly for the conferring of the veto power 
upon the Governor of the State. He was a 
member of the Committee on State Boundaries, 
which reported to the Convention the Lucas 
boundaries — in substance those suggested by 
that Governor in his message to the second Leg- 
islative Assembly in 1839. These boundaries, 
by which the State was made to extend from the 
Missouri to the Mississippi River and from the 
Missouri State line north to the St. Peters River, 
were accepted by the Convention.^^^ 

Lucas was also a member of the Committee 
on State Revenue. During the debates upon 
the provisions of the Constitution, he took a fre- 
quent part. He vigorously opposed the prohi- 
bition of banking corporations in the State, believ- 
ing that the people were capable of managing 
this matter for themselves. He also advocated 
the individual liability of stockholders in corpora- 
tions. He objected strongly to the proposal of 
Hempstead to combine the offices of Lieutenant 
Governor and Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, and urged the importance of a strong and 
independent school system. His counsel upon 
matters before the Convention seems in the main 



LATER POLITICS 271 

wise and conservative and his services as a mem- 
ber of this constituent assembly were of great 
value because of his long and varied career in 
governmental affairs. 

Upon the adjournment of the Convention the 
Constitution was submitted to Congress. That 
body, however, took exceptions to the Lucas 
Boundaries, and proposed to deprive the State 
of the land bordering the Missouri River. Large- 
ly because of the boundaries prescribed by Con- 
gress the people refused to accept the Constitu- 
tion; and Iowa still remained a Territory. 

In December of 18-14 Robert Lucas made his 
final trip to Ohio for the purpose of definitely 
settling his affairs in that State and removing 
permanently to Iowa City. His property near 
Jasper in Pike County seems to have been his 
headquarters. From this place he wrote a long 
letter to Samuel Medary, an old time Ohio friend, 
in which he opened his heart freely and con- 
fided his desire to be reinstated as Governor of 
the Temtory of Iowa by President Polk, who 
was to take the chair of the Chief Executive the 
next month. Having been informed that Joseph 
Williams was desirous of the appointment, he 
protested that Williams had become a Tyler 
man upon being reappointed as District Judge 
by President Tyler, and therefore as a renegade 



272 ROBERT LUCAS 

Democrat oiiglit not now to receive consideration 
at the liands of the new Democratic Administra- 
tion. This movement to support Williams, Lu- 
cas declared, had induced the friends of the Ex- 
Governor to push forward the claims of Robert 
Lucas for reappointment. He added that such 
reappointment, placing him again in the position 
from which he had been so abruptly removed 
by Harrison, would be very gratifying to him. 
"My claim to the appoi[n]tm[ent] of Gov[er]n- 
or of the Territ[or]y", he wrote "is fo[u]nded on 
the confidence of the people of the Territ[or]y, 
and I have abunda[n]t reason to believe that 
when I was dismis[se]d by Gov[erno]r Harrison 
that it was agai[ns]t the wish of at least three 
fourths of the Citizens of the Territory." He 
half pathetically apologizes for this request of 
his friend and closes with the words: "As an 
old friend I have opened my mind to you freely. 
You are acqua[in]ted with my character and 
qual[i]fications for the appoi[n]tm[en]t appli[e]d 
for, and any aid that you can render will be 
gratefully remembered. "^OQ His hopes, however, 
were not fulfilled. Chambers retained his seat 
until November, 1845, and in that month James 
Clarke was appointed Governor of the Territory, 
which ofiice he held until the State Government 
went into operation in December, 1846. 



LATER POLITICS 273 

Lucas expected to return to Iowa during the 
latter part of March, but his letters of these days 
show that he did not leave until at least the 
last of April, 1845; and not until November 28, 
1845, is his attendance recorded in the Masonic 
meetings at Iowa City where he had joined the 
local lodge in August of the preceding year. 

From his return to Iowa in 1845, to his death 
in 1853, he lived a rather quiet life on his farm 
south of Iowa City. The year 1846 was marked 
by the events connected with the transition from 
TeiTitorial to State Government. Here again 
the almost pathetic desire of the Ex-Governor 
to hold the office of Chief Executive of his 
chosen people showed itself. He had through- 
out his life been a servant of the public. Aside 
from his early experiences as a surveyor, a village 
storekeeper and farmer, he had had no other occu- 
pation. Politics was, indeed, his profession. And 
now as his declining years came upon him and 
the fate of the superannuated statesman brought 
him that fretful idleness that is so hard for men 
of action to endure, he forgot that his years were 
behind him, and turned with longing eyes to the 
Governorship of the State whose early destinies 
he had watched and guarded as the pioneer Ter- 
ritorial Governor. 

But Lucas was sixty -five years of age, ar.d he 

18 



274 ROBERT LUCAS 

had by his intense spirit made many enemies. 
Younger men had entered the field, and the stern 
old organic Governor of the Territory was for- 
gotten. Ansel Briggs, who had in 1839 come 
to Iowa from the State of Ohio with a letter of 
introduction to Governor Lucas from Governor 
Shannon of that State, was nominated by the 
Democrats of Iowa and elected as the first Gov- 
ernor of the State. 2^^ 

Time passed and the allotted four score years 
and ten approached. The quietness of the re- 
tired farm life brought opportunity for medita- 
tion. But the life-long politician could not give 
up his interest in politics. The years of his 
political experience had begun with the century; 
and since the days of Thomas Jefferson he had 
been always a Democrat. He had seen the 
Federal party sink feebly to its death after the 
War of 1812 and the uncertain gropings of fac- 
tions take its place — factions that wavered and 
veered from point to point of the political com- 
pass and knew no anchorage save their allegiance 
to personalities. Out of this chaos of personal 
politics Lucas had seen order come once more. 
He had watched the origin and growth of the 
Whigs, and in campaign after campaign had 
struggled against them. He had presided over 
the first national convention of the Democratic 



LATER POLITICS 275 

party, and had upheld Democratic principles 
through three terms of Governorship. He had 
been a Democrat for over half a century, through 
years of success and years of defeat. He had 
grown old in the service, but he was not to end 
his days in the camp of his life-long following. 

With the year 1850 there came another period 
of party moulting. The Compromise of that 
year, while it cleared the pir of immediate dis- 
turbances and for a while seemed to quiet the 
growing restlessness of political feeling, could 
not long force peace upon a house divided against 
itself, and the decade that followed became a 
time of great shifting of party affiliations. The 
day had come when the grand old Democracy 
was rent with many factions. Life-long Demo- 
crats, some because of anti-slavery principles and 
some for other reasons, turned their backs upon 
the party and joined the Whigs or the Free 
Soilers. The Whigs also were consumed with 
dissensions and were rapidly giving up to the 
disintegrating forces that paved the way for the 
origin of the new Republican party. 

Among the staunch Democrats who left their 
party affiliations after a lifetime of unswerving 
devotion was Robert Lucas. When Franklin 
Pierce was nominated in 1852 as the Democratic 
candidate for the Presidency of the United States, 



276 ROBERT LUCAS 

Lucas publicly stated his determination never to 
vote for him as Chief Magistrate. In reply to 
a letter from S. M. Ballard, editor of The Iowa 
Repuhlican^ he wrote, on September 3, 1852, a 
statement of his views and declared his intention 
to vote for General Winfield Scott, the Whig can- 
didate. Unfortunately neither this letter nor the 
file of the paper in which it was presumably pub- 
lished, has been preserved, so that the exact 
motives which impelled his change cannot be as- 
certained. ^^^ It is generally reported, however, 
that the Ex-Governor was unable to subscribe 
to the position of the Democratic party and its 
nominee upon the slavery question. 

On September 2, 1852, the Iowa City Central 
Scott Club held a meeting and elected Robert 
Lucas as its President. The venerable Ex-Gov- 
ernor accepted this position in the Whig forces, 
and on the 8th of September took the chair and 
presided over a meeting of the Club. Upon this 
occasion he delivered, according to the newspa- 
per account, an "appropriate address, which was 
loudly and frequently cheered by the delighted 
audience, among which were a number of la- 
dies. "^^^ It was his last recorded political speech 
and his last political move. It could not have been 
other than sincere. He had nothing to gain by the 
change except the satisfaction of his own con- 



LATER POLITICS 277 

science. Long since had the time passed when 
he could think of holding office. From the quiet 
of his farm he had for years watched the trend 
of politics as an old general might with eager 
interest watch from afar the course of a battle 
and fervently pray for the success of the army 
whose movements he no longer could guide. 

Though he had ceased to take an active part 
in politics he never ceased to take an active in- 
terest. The dominant note of his life had been 
political; and now in the last few months of his 
career the event was political which brought him 
from his quiet and woke once more the gleam of 
his former intense spirit. Be the motive what 
it may, his strong convictions forced him to turn 
from his life-long comrades. It was to be his 
last vote, but of this he was not aware. Perhaps 
he did not know that the Whig party was near- 
ing its death. Probably he did not care. He 
could not vote for Franklin Pierce, even though 
he represented the party which so long had 
claimed his allegiance. And so the venerable 
Democratic warrior with the last strength of his 
feeble steps crossed to the camp of the party 
which he for so many years had fought, cast his 
lot with the tottering fragments of the old Whig 
forces, and breathed out his own life five months 
later at his home at Plum Grove, a Whig. 



XXV 

Political Philosophy 

"I HAVE always viewed Thomas Jefferson as tlie 
apostle of Democracy, and his political principles 
as the true standard, by which to test the ortho- 
dox opinions of professing Democratic Republi- 
cans." These words uttered by Robert Lucas 
in April of 1838 may fairly be taken as an indica- 
tion of the scope and trend of his political phi- 
losophy, which is reflected in certain Fourth of 
July orations, and in letters and official acts and 
utterances. His political ideas were never hazy 
or ill defined. They were clear-cut and decided; 
and in expressing them, although he may have 
lacked grace and literary finish, Robert Lucas 
spoke with a directness and vigor that left no 
doubt as to his meaning. 

The generally accepted theories of Democracy 
claimed his allegiance throughout life. He be- 
lieved strongly in a strict adherence to the fun- 
damental law whether in Federal or State Consti- 
tution or in the Organic Act of the Territory; 
and references to these authorities invariably 



POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 279 

constituted tlie basis of his arguments. He al- 
ways maintained an aggressive opposition to the 
United States Bank, and in 1838 he character- 
ized the whole bank question as the most menac- 
ing one to the interests of the American people. 

The theory of State Rights had a strong attrac- 
tion for the mind of Robert Lucas. Born in the 
State of Virginia he may have imbibed in his 
early youth this belief in the sovereignty of the 
State. Especially during his Governorship of 
the State of Ohio does he hold to this philosophy. 
In 1835, when he was involved in the controversy 
over the boundaries, his letters to the Federal 
government and his various messages and procla- 
mations constantly exploit this theory to support 
the claims of Ohio. 

He was not, however, led so far afield as to 
acknowledge or yield encouragement to the doc- 
trine of Nullification. On the contrary, he took 
occasion upon his inauguration as Governor of 
Ohio in 1832, to say: "The doctrine of Nullifica- 
tion (as it is called) that has been zealously and 
no doubt seriously asserted by many eminent 
politicians in South Carolina, I believe to be 
without the support of constitutional authority, 
dangerous in its consequences, and if adopted, 
would lead to anarchy, and the ultimate dissolu- 
tion of the Union." 



280 ROBERT LUCAS 

The controversy in the Ten^itory of Iowa be- 
tween the Governor, the Secretary, and the Leg- 
islative Assembly emphasizes several basic prin- 
ciples in the political theory of Robert Lucas. 
In the first place it shows his democratic desire 
for economy in governmental expenditures and 
his opposition to the Territorial policy of exploit- 
ing the United States Treasury. Secondly, it 
shows clearly his belief in the independence of 
the executive department of government. His 
insistence upon this belief in the case of the veto 
of bills was largely the cause of his final rupture 
with the legislature. Again, in the Constitution- 
al Convention of 1844, he showed by his vigor- 
ous defense of the executive veto that he still 
maintained his belief in executive independence. 

Intensely patriotic, his reluctance to see his 
State or country deprived of an inch of territory 
showed itself twice in boundary disputes in which 
as a Governor he became involved. The same 
attitude showed itself once more in the campaign 
of 1843 in Ohio when the Oregon question was 
occupying the public attention. Lucas was quoted 
as being "in favor of taking possession, and if 
need be, with an armed force^ of the Territory 
of Oregon."2i3 g^t with all his intense military 
spirit he was generally conservative in a crisis 
and rarely lost ground by rash moves. 



POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 281 

The slavery question claimed his notice as 
early as 1835. In that year, in connection with 
the agitation of the early abolitionists in Ohio 
and other free States and the resulting protests 
from the slave States, he wrote as follows in his 
message to the legislature of Ohio: 

The community, of late, appears to have been thrown 
into commotion on the subject of slavery in the south- 
ern states, and as citizens of a common country, we 
cannot view that commotion with indifference. We have 
71 ot one word to say in favor of the 2yri7iciple of slavery. 
We view it abstractedly, as both a moral and political 
evil; but it was interwoven in our political system at 
its first organization, and its existence has been con- 
tinued in many of the states as a part of their local policy. 
With this policy we have no right to interfere. Each 
state has the constitutional right to regulate its own 
internal affairs; and it was with extreme regret we wit- 
nessed the recent excitement in the slaveholding states, 
produced by the misguided zeal of individuals residing 
in the free states. The conduct of these individuals we 
sincerely deprecate; and the public sentiment of the 
people of Ohio has stamped their conduct with the seal 
of disapprobation, and will doubtless continue their ex- 
ertions to allay all excitement with regard to this delicate 
question, as far as the moral force and controling in- 
fluence of public opinion can extend; but we are firmly 
of the opinion that no legislative acts can be passed on 
this subject, as suggested by some of the southern states, 
without an entire disregard to the constitution of the 
state of Ohio. The constitution declares "that the print- 



282 ROBERT LUCAS 

ing press shall be open and free to every citizen who 
wishes to examine the proceedings of any branch of gov- 
ernment, or the conduct of any public officer; and no 
law shall ever restrain the right thereof. Every citizen 
has an indisputable right to speak, write or print upon 
any subject, as he thinks proper, being liable for the 
abuse of that liberty." 

Our constitution also declares "that no person shall 
be liable to be transported out of this state for any of- 
fense committed within the state." These two provi- 
sions will effectually bar any legislative action on the 
subject, in accordance with the suggestions of some of 
the southern states. The good sense of the community, 
and the moral force of public opinion will control this 
matter, and will doubtless manifest to our brethren of 
the south, that, while we yield none of our principles, 
we are disposed to respect the rights and feelings of 
others. 214 

Three years later, in writing to Thomas L. 
Hamer about the ' 'squally times in Congress 
with the abolition question", he expressed the 
opinion that the danger could be warded off by 
an adherence to the principles of the Constitu- 
tion. He maintained that while the North had 
no right to interfere with the "internal regula- 
tions" of the southern States, neither had the 
South a right to interfere with the right of peti- 
tion by the people of the North. Later years 
seem to have brought to Lucas more decided 
views in opposition to slavery. He predicted 



POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 283 

the Civil War upon tlie ground of slavery, but 
died before his predictions were fulfilled. 

Kobert Lucas was a man of practical political 
sense rather than of formulated political theories. 
Self-taught to a large degree, he cared little for 
the abstractions of governmental philosophy. 
He spent his life in the political field and watched 
men and events with a keen eye. A shrewd 
common-sense added to years of experience gave 
him a knowledge of political affairs and a judg- 
ment in governmental policies that were funda- 
mentally solid; and by the light of these he 
ordered his ways as a public officer. 



XXVI 

The Last Days 

The retirement of Robert Lucas from active 
political life was by no means a hermitage. He 
retained his interest in public affairs and occa- 
sionally he took part in matters of a public 
nature. Occasionally he came to the meetings 
of his Masonic Lodge, and now and then his 
voice was heard in a public gathering. Beside 
his undying interest in political events there 
were three main topics of a public character that 
in later days particularly enlisted his attention. 
These were: the temperance movement, the de- 
velopment of a public school system, and the 
promotion of railways in Iowa. 

In the temperance movement he had been a 
prominent leader long before he left Ohio, and 
he brought with him to the Territory of Iowa a 
firm determination to use every effort to further 
this cause. There was certainly great need of 
reform of this nature in the new Territory where 
there was a prevailing tendency toward intemper- 
ance. It too often pervaded the public offices 



THE LAST DAYS 285 

and constituted a well known weakness of many 
of the Territorial legislators. 

Considering this condition of affairs it took no 
little courage for the new Governor to condemn 
the evil and declare his determination to nomi- 
nate to office no man who was addicted to the 
vice of intemperance. It made for him many 
enemies, but it had a salutary effect in the Terri- 
tory. Lucas, however, had some strong co-work- 
ers in the efforts towards temperance. James G. 
Edwards, editor of the Hcvwh-Eye and loiva Pa- 
triot, though opposed to the Governor in politi- 
cal matters was enthusiastically in sympathy with 
him in his opposition to intemperance. Judges 
Charles Mason and Joseph Williams were also 
strong in their support of the cause. 

A convention of the friends of the movement 
met in Burlington on November 11, 1839, and 
organized a society under the title of the loiva 
Territorial Temperance Society. Robert Lucas 
was chosen President and Chief Justice Charles 
Mason Vice President of the Society.^^^ The 
interest of Robert Lucas continued after his Gov- 
ernorship ceased. In the last year of his life a 
movement w^as organized in the East to secure 
the portraits of a number of the prominent tem- 
perance leaders of the country and have a group 
picture engraved as a memorial to the cause of 



286 ROBERT LUCAS 

temperance. A request was made of Lucas for 
a picture of himself, in response to which, on 
July 7, 1852, he had a small dagueiTeotype 
taken. 216 

The establishment of a system of education 
had also received the' support of Robert Lucas 
before his migration to Iowa. In his first mes- 
sage to the legislature of the Territory of Iowa 
he drew particular attention to the need of mak- 
ing provision for the common schools of the 
Territory, and never afterward did his interest 
in this movement flag. Nor was his attention 
given entirely to the common schools, for we 
find that in 1849 Robert Lucas was a member 
of the Board of Trustees of the State University 
of Iowa. 21^ 

A very important educational step was taken 
on December 14, 1848, when a State convention 
of the teachers and friends of education of the 
State of Iowa met in the Old Stone Capitol at 
Iowa City.-i^ Robert Lucas, upon motion of 
Thomas Hart Benton, State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, was chosen President of the 
convention, and upon taking the chair delivered 
a few remarks upon the subject of popular edu- 
cation. At this meeting a constitution was drawn 
up and adopted for the permanent organization 
of the association under the title of ^'The Educa- 



THE LAST DAYS 287 

tional Convention of Iowa." Its object was stated 
to be "to promote by every laudable means the 
diffusion of knowledge in regard to education and 
especially to aid in establishing and perpetuating 
a system of common school instruction in this 
State." Thomas Hart Benton was chosen as 
President of the organization. The convention 
drew up a series of resolutions, and adjourned 
after a two days session. It is interesting to 
note that a resolution favoring the striking out 
from the school law the word "white" wherever 
it occurred, and allowing the colored child equal 
educational privileges with the white, was de- 
feated. 

Eobert Lucas was a typical western man, be- 
lieving in the development of the West and its 
resources. Throughout his career in Ohio his 
efforts to establish roads and perfect a great 
canal system for that State were particularly 
marked. In Iowa the legitimate successor of the 
canal — the railroad — claimed his interest. In 
1850 enthusiasm over railroads toward the west 
ran high in Iowa. In January a large conven- 
tion of the friends of the Dubuque and Keokuk 
Railroad met at the Old Stone Capitol in Iowa 
City with delegates from fourteen or fifteen 
counties in attendance. Eobert Lucas was a 
delegate from Johnson County and seems to have 



288 ROBERT LUCAS 

been prominent enough in the convention to be 
chosen as one of the Vice Presidents of the ses- 
sion.2^^ A month later another State railroad 
convention met at Iowa City, this time in the 
interests of the Davenport and Council Bluffs 
Eailroad. Robert Lucas was appointed chair- 
man of the committee on resolutions and brought 
in a report and resolutions which cover five 
columns of the Iowa Capitol ReporterJ^^ 

Thus in his last days we find Robert Lucas — 
always a pioneer — exerting his best energies to- 
ward the development of three great pioneer 
movements: education, temperance, and railway 
communication. What could have been more 
important than these to a frontier community? 
His labors were not simply those of a theorist 
or well-wisher. A long lifetime had shown him 
the need of these movements. In his own youth 
he had lacked much in the way of education. 
He had been largely self-educated and knew the 
difficulties that confronted the pioneer settler 
who desired to educate his children. In his 
young manhood he must have seen clearly the 
evils of intemperance. His father-in-law, John 
Brown, kept an old-time tavern on the banks of 
the Ohio River, and here Lucas lived for some 
time and could not have failed to witness many 
object lessons teaching the need of temperance 



THE LAST DAYS 289 

reform. And the long years of bis pioneer ex- 
perience had taught him that in the development 
of a frontier community, almost as essential as 
the mitigation of the curses of ignorance and in- 
temperance, was the development of means of 
communication between the settlers. 

It was a far cry from the Shenandoah Valley 
to the prairies beyond the Mississippi in the first 
half of the nineteenth century; and the story of 
those hardy pioneers who pushed out to the 
West in advance of civilization and conquered 
the forests and plains is one of toil and hardship. 
They left the comforts of civilization and braved 
the dangers of the unknown land. They cleared 
the forests and tilled the plains through long 
and weary years of loneliness. They planted 
towns and organized governments and moved 
on again to the westward while others came to 
settle in comfort upon the lands they had tamed. 

Often the pioneer lived to see farms and towns 
dot the land whose virgin soil he had turned and 
witness a younger generation take charge of and 
administer the government he had framed, with 
little thought for the passing of the first sturdy 
settlers. This was natural; it was inevitable. 
But it was sometimes hard for the pioneer to 
understand. He failed to grasp the truth of the 
doctrine that one shall sow and another reap. 

19 



290 ROBERT LUCAS 

The life of Robert Lucas had brought many 
disappointments. With all the intensity of his 
spirit he had cherished longings and ambitions 
which in the nature of things could not be ful- 
filled. He had been privileged to sow the seed. 
It was given to others to reap the harvest. His 
years had been many and his services great. He 
had seen a great State rise from the wilderness 
north of the Ohio River and had given it a third 
of a century of his own life's work. He had 
guided the beginnings of the promising Terri- 
tory of Iowa and helped it to gain admission as 
a new State of the Union. But now the years 
of his life were nearly spun out and others must 
take up the work he had hoped to perform. 

Strong men with intense convictions can not 
help but make or mar the destinies of the 
commonwealth, and the effect — good or evil — 
depends on the ruling principle of the individual. 
Robert Lucas was a man of unquestioned strength 
and vigor, and throughout his public career he 
was dominated by a genuine patriotism and 
sincerity of purpose. His public service was mark- 
ed by storm and stress. He decided upon a course 
of action and with invincible tenacity clung to 
his policy. He made his mistakes, as all men 
must, but subsequent events have proved them 
to have been very few. The general effect of a 



THE LAST DAYS 291 

strong and vigorous administration of affairs by 
a man experienced in politics and wise in states- 
manship made the term of office of the organic 
Governor of the Territory of Iowa one of which 
the people of the Temtory and State have shown 
far too slight an appreciation. 

The home which Governor Lucas had built 
south of Iowa City in 1844 was the home of his 
last days. Because of the plum trees before 
the house, he called it Plum Grove; and here 
in the midst of his family he quietly rested from 
his long life's work. He had since the days of 
his young manhood been a devout Christian 
man and a strong pillar in the Methodist Church. 
Now he waited for the approach of death with 
calmness. The hand which had once signed 
proclamations and messages in the Executive 
Journal of the Territory, now with more falter- 
ing lines and less legible letters recorded in the 
back of that same Journal page after page of 
religious poems and hymns. Day after day he 
seems to have thus occupied himself. On the 
margin of old newspapers and on the backs of 
public documents are still found expressions of 
his hopes of immortality and final salvation. 
Interwoven with them is an undying evidence of 
his affection for his family; for in acrostic form 
the initials of the lines of many of his hymns 



292 ROBERT LUCAS 

spell out the names of his wife and his children, 
his nephews, nieces, and grandchildren.^^^ 

On the last day of the year 1852 he recorded 
a hymn full of hope and cheer in the pages of 
the journal he had kept during the Hull cam- 
paign in the War of 1812. Five weeks later in 
the early morning of Monday, February 7, 1853, 
Robert Lucas died at Plum Grove, and on the 
following day he was buried in the cemetery at 
Iowa City.222 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 

CHAPTER I 

1 In A Partial LUt of the Families toJio Resided in 
Bricks County, Pennsylvania, Prior to 1687, taken from 
a certified copy of the original in possession of the 
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, appears the follow- 
ing entry: "Robert Lucas, of Deverall, Longbridge, 
in the County of Wilts, yeoman. Arrived in this river 
the 4th of the 4th Mo., 1679, in the 'Elizabeth and 
Mary', of Waymoutli. Elizabeth, his wife, arrived 
in the ship the 'Content', of London, theM^ ., William 
Johson, in the Vth M^., 1680. Children, John, his son, 
born the 11th 11th Mo., i654, Giles, Edward, Robert, 
Elizabeth, Rebecca, Mary, & Sarah." — The Pennsyl- 
vania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. ix, p. 
228. 

This early Robert Lucas seems to have been an im- 
portant personage in Crewcorne (as the little settlement 
on the Delaware River was called). In 1680 his name 
appears signed to a petition to the Governor of New 
York for the suppression of the sale of liquor to Indians. 
Some time later the new court in Bucks County ap- 
pointed him Justice of the Peace. On the 20th of Feb- 
ruary, 1681, after the arrival of William Penn, an elec- 
tion was held for members of the Council and Assembly 
for the new colony. Nine members of the Assembly 
and three members of the Council were elected from 



296 ROBERT LUCAS 

each of the six counties, and among those chosen to sit 
in the Assembly was Robert Lucas. The meeting oc- 
curred on the 10th of the following month (March), and 
Penn laid before them the Frame of Government. 
Together they made out a new charter which the founder 
of the colony signed and sealed in their presence. — See 
Davis's History of Bucks County Pennsylvania, Vol. 
I, pp. 30, 36, 37, 66. Winsor's Narrative and Critical 
History of America, Vol. iii, pp. 484-486. 

A genealogy of descendants of John Rush appears 
in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biog- 
raphy, Vol. xYii, p. 325. 

3 These facts were obtained from the Manuscript 
Notes of Samuel Brown, of Piketon, Ohio, and from 
Evans's Historical Record (manuscript volume, No. 5). 

4 Evans's History of Scioto County, Ohio, p. 209. 
This company was also known as Captain Philip Talia- 
ferro's Company and as Captain Thomas Minor's Com- 
pany. 

5 Manuscript letter of Edward W. Lucas to Dr. T. 
S. Barnes, of Chillicothe, Ohio, now in the possession 
of Miss Elizabeth Barnes of Piketon, Ohio. 

6 In 1838 Robert Lucas, in answer to an inquiry from 
John Forsyth, Secretary of State, wrote: "I was born 
in Jefferson County, Virginia, on the 1st day of April 
A. D. 1781." — See Shambaugh's Executive Journal of 
Iowa, 1888-181^1, p. 3. 

7 Taylor's Ohio Statesmen and Annals of Progress, 
Vol. I, p. 138. 

8 Caleb Atwater's General Robert Lucas in Annals 
ofloica. Third Series, Vol. vi. No. 2, July, 1903, p. 124. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 297 

Lloyd's Robert Liicas^ the First Governor of lovm^ in 
Annals of Iowa ^ Vol. viii, January, 1870, p. 45. The 
name of the writer of this latter sketch does not appear 
in connection with the article; but investigation proves 
it to have been written by Dr. Frederick Lloyd who 
was at that time editor of the Annals of Iowa. Dr. 
Lloyd evidently had access to the letters and papers 
of Robert Lucas, and his sketch is the best that has 
thus far appeared in regard to the life of Robert Lucas. 

9 ^\2in^''^ History of Scioto County, Ohio, pp. 101, 
126. 

10 Taylor's Ohio Statesmen and Annals of Progress, 
Vol. I, pp. 35, 37. See also Evans's History of Scioto 
County, Ohio, pp. 126, 127. 

11 Lloyd's Rohert Lucas, the First Governor of Iowa 
in Annals of Iowa, Vol. viii, January, 1870, p. 45. 
The date at which William Lucas migrated to Ohio is 
variously given by writers upon the subject. It seems 
difficult to determine whether it occurred in the year 
1800, as given by Evans, or in 1802, as given by Caleb 
Atwater, by Howe in his Historical Collections of Ohio, 
and by the writer of a newspaper sketch of Robert 
Lucas, published in 1834. 

12 The will of William Lucas, dated June 4, 1813, in 
the Probate Office of the Scioto County Court House, 
Portsmouth, Ohio, and Volumes A, B, and C of the 
Record of Deeds in the Recorder's Office in the same 
building show that he was possessed of considerable 
valuable land in the rich bottoms of the Scioto Valley. 

13 United States Statutes at Large, V-ol. ii, p. 58. 



298 ROBERT LUCAS 

!■* King's Ohio, Fiy^st Fruits of the Ordinance of 1787,, 
pp. 296-304. 

CHAPTER II 

15 Access was had, through the kindness of Mr. Nelsom 
W. Evans, of Portsmouth, Ohio, to eleven volumes of 
manuscript material relative to the history of Scioto- 
County and Southern Ohio. Here were found extracts- 
from the journals of the County Commissioners of that 
county in which reference is made to this survey by 
Beasley and Lucas. 

16 There are, among the letters and papers of Robert 
Lucas, commissions issued to him for the following 
offices: Surveyor of Scioto County, December 26, 1803; 
Lieutenant, May 24, 1804; Justice of the Peace, De- 
cember 16, 1805; Lieutenant-Colonel, February 14, 180'/; 
Captain of a volunteer company, August 25, 1807; and 
Colonel, February 20, 1809. 

17 Henry Adams's History of tlie United States, VoL 
IV. This work, covering the administrations of Jeffer- 
son and Madison, gives a very valuable discussion of 
this period of American history. 

18 These orders are found in the letters of General 
Joseph Darlington to Robert Lucas in August and Sep- 
tember of 1807, which are among the letters and papers 
of Robert Lucas. 

19 This song, with a short note by Robert Lucas ex- 
plaining the circumstances under which it was composed 
and sung, is found, together with other songs and 
poems, written in the back pages of the original manu- 
script copy of the Executive Journal of loica, 1838— 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 299 

18Jfl. These poems are mostly religious in nature, and 
many of them are in the form of acrostics. They cover 
one hundred twenty-three pages of the Journal., and 
with one possible exception are in the handwriting of 
Robert Lucas. 

20 This document, or perhaps a copy of the original 
made at the time, is still in existence. But in the course 
of years the folded edges have been worn through and 
the manuscript is now in four pieces, one of which has- 
been lost. The remaining portions when pieced to- 
gether present the text as given above and the names 
of most of the volunteers. 

CHAPTEE III 

21 A number of the facts relating to the early life of 
Robert Lucas are found in the History of Scioto County, 
Ohio, by Nelson W. Evans. This volume of over 

thirteen hundred pages contains a very valuable collec- 
tion of facts relative to the history of Southern Ohio. 
It appears to have been rather carefully compiled, con- 
siderable of the material being taken from such original 
sources as old newspapers, official records, gravestone 
inscriptions, and letters of the early settlers. 

22 The story of this celebration is told in Keyes's 
Pioneers of Scioto County, a very interesting, if not an 
entirely trustworthy collection of biographical sketches. 

23 Journal of the House of Representatives, 1808. 

24 These letters of McArthur are found among the 
letters and papers of Robert Lucas. 

25 Accounts of this episode are found in Keyes's Pio- 
neers of Scioto County and in Howe's Historical Collec- 



300 ROBERT LUCAS 

tions of Ohio. The latter work was compiled by Henry 
Howe, who traveled over Ohio on foot gathering his 
material largely from the old settlers in the towns 
through which he passed. It is a work of value; but 
from the manner of its preparation is not entirely reli- 
able. It also seems to be tinged somewhat with parti- 
sanship. 

The story of the arrest of Lucas is also well authen- 
ticated by items which appeared in the Western Times 
in October, 1828, and by the admission of Robert Lucas 
himself in one of his own letters. 

26 This letter is taken from the Western Times for 
October 4, 1828. 

27 Although Glover retained a violent antipathy to 
his captive, the subsequent relations of Lucas and John 
R. Turner seem to have been of the most cordial nature. 
Much of their correspondence is preserved and shows that 
the two men for a score of years after the arrest were 
the most intimate and confidential friends. 

28 This account of the perpetual motion machine is 
typical of the tales found in Keyes's Pioneers of Scioto 

Coimty. It may or may not have been true. 

CHAPTER IV 

29 Lossing's Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812 
contains an excellent description of the events leading 
up to the war, and a valuable portrayal of the details of 
the various campaigns. 

30 This manuscript journal, found among the letters 
•and papers of Robert Lucas, has recently been edited 
by John C. Parish and published by The State Histor- 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 301 

ical Society of Iowa. Reference to this journal and 
frequent quotations therefrom have been made in the 
belief that the story of the campaign can best be told 
in this way. 

31 An interesting sketch of William A. Trimble is 
found in the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quar- 
terly, Vol. XIV, No. 3, July, 1905, pp. 225-246. 

32 In the office of the Adjutant General, in the State 
House at Columbus, Ohio, is a pay roll of Ohio soldiers 
in the service of the United States, copied from the 
Records at Washington. Here is found the roll of the 
company of John Lucas in which Robert Lucas is listed 
as a private. 

33 See the letter of instructions from Governor Meigs 
to Captain Rupe in Parish's The Robert Ijucas Journal^ 

p. 11. 

34 The term "Miami of the Lake" was the name then 
given to what is now known as the Maumee River, 
Originally these two Indian names were the same. 

35 Brigadier General Isaac Brock, Provisional Lieu- 
tenant Governor of Upper Canada, was in command of 
the British forces during the campaign of 1812. 

36 See Letter of General Hull to the Secretary of War, 
William Eustis, June 24, 1812. This letter is printed 
in ih^ Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, Vol. 
XV, 1890, p. 92. 

37 Two American vessels started to Detroit, one carry- 
ing the baggage and the other the sick. The first (the 
Cuyahoga) was captured by the British ship Hunter, 
while the second passed up the river to Detroit in safety. 



302 ROBERT LUCAS 

38 The place of Hull's encampment below Detroit was 
so called because of the number of clear springs which 
gushed out from the sand hills in this vicinity. 

CHAPTER V 

39 See Parish's The Robert Lucas Journal^ p. 27. 

40 This proclamation may be found in the Michigan 
Pioneer and Historical Collections^ Vol. xv, 1890, p. 
106. It has sometimes been stated that the document 
was written by Colonel Lewis Cass, but no proof has 
been given for this claim. 

41 Henry Adams's History of the United States^ Vol. 
VI, pp. 316-321. 

CHAPTER VI 

42 This letter, which Lucas copies in full in his jour- 
nal on the twelfth of August, contains a very severe 
condemnation of General Hull for his management of 
the campaign. 

43 Parish's The Robert Lucas Journal, p. 64. 

44 It is interesting in connection with this campaign 
to notice the course of subsequent relations between 
Lucas and the three Colonels of the Ohio militia. Mc- 
Arthur and Lucas were together term after term in the 
Ohio legislature. In 1830 they were opposing candi- 
dates for the office of Governor of the State of Ohio — 
Lucas was defeated. Two years later they again ap- 
peared as rival candidates for the Governorship. But 
at the last minute McArthur withdrew and entered the 
race for Congress, in which he was defeated. Lucas 
was elected Governor, and the year that saw him first 
installed in the executive chair marked the beginning of 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 303 

IVicArthur's retirement from public life. James Find- 
lay, after spending a number of years in Congress, be- 
•came a candidate for the office of Governor of Ohio in 
1834. Lucas was then a candidate for reelection, and 
was successful in the contest. 

After the War of 1812 Lewis Cass left the State of 
Ohio and became Governor of the Territory of Michi- 
gan. Many years later (in 1835-1836) when the contro- 
versy over the boundary between Ohio and Michigan 
was at its height, Lewis Cass, then Secretary of War, 
and Robert Lucas, Governor of Ohio, became involved 
in a bitter quarrel over the settlement of the difficulties 
between the State and Territory. 

CHAPTER VII 

45 In the official account of prisoners exchanged the 
name of Robert Lucas appears classified as a Captain 
of the United States Army. It seems probable that 
•General Hull must have done as Lucas feared and so 
returned his name to the British, although it was at his 
request that Lucas had disregarded orders as a regular 
army officer and stayed with General Hull's army through- 
out the ill-fated campaign. For this account of the 
exchange of prisoners, and the official correspondence 
regarding the same, see the Michigan Pioneer and His- 
.torical Collections, Vol. xv, 1890, pp. 205-207. 

46 On the page following this last journal entry Lucas 
begins to use the book for the record of more of his 
hymns, covering twenty-eight pages with compositions 
of this nature. The last one, on the subject of baptism, 
preceded his death less than six weeks. 

47 Among the letters and papers of Robert Lucas is 



304 



ROBERT LUCAS 



found a subpoena issued to Lucas in October of 1812, 
requiring him to appear as a witness in the court-mar- 
tial of General Hull on February 25, 1813. This first 
court-martial, however, did not materialize. For the 
court-martial of January, 1814, at which General Hull 
was convicted, there is no evidence of a subpoena issued 
to Robert Lucas; and an examination of the official 
records of the trial in the Judge Advocate General's 
office in Washington, D. C, shows that he did not ap- 
pear as a witness. 

48 The following are a few passages taken from the 
Cass Hejjort and The Mohert Lucas Journal: 



jRohert Lucas Journal 

This afternoon Colo Finley is 
ordered with a Detachment to 
the Spring wells and about Sun- 
set Colos McArthur and Cass 
is ordered with a Detachment 
from their Regiments of 3 50 
men, to march a back way to 
the riv[e]r Raisin to escort the 
provisions that had Some time 
remained there 



Cass Report 

About sun-set on the evening 
of the 14th a detachment of 350 
men from the regiments com- 
manded by Col M' Arthur, and 
myself, was ordered to march 
to the river Raisin to escort the 
provisions, which had some 
time remained there 



About 4 o'clock 2 vessels hove 
in Sight below Sandwich point, 
and their battery played upon 
the town. The fire was returned 
and continued without inter- 
ruption and with little effect 
till Dark the Shells were thrown 
till 11 o'clock 



About four o'clock their batter- 
ies began to play upon the town. 
The fire was returned and con- 
tinued without interruption 
and with little effect till dark. 
Their shells were thrown till 
eleven o'clock 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 305 

In entering into this capitula- In entering into this capitula- 
tion the Gnl only consulted his tion, the General took counsel 
own feelings, not an officer was from his own feelings only, 
consulted, not one antisipated Not an officer was consulted, 
a Surrender till they Saw the Not one anticipated a surrender 
white flag displayed upon the till he saw the white flag dis- 
walls. Even the women was played. Even the women were 
indignant at the Shameful deg- indignant at so shameful a deg- 
radation of the Americ[an] redation of the American 
character, and all felt as they character and all felt as they 
should have felt but he who held should have felt, but he who 
in his hands the reins of au- held in his hands the reins of 
thority authority 

The assumption that Cass took his sentences from 
Lucas rather than the reverse is further borne out by 
the fact that where parallel descriptions occur, those of 
Lucas are the more detailed. 

49 The dates between which Robert Lucas held com- 
missions in the United States Army are given in Heit- 
man's Historical Register and Dictionary of the United 
States Army. 

50 Among the letters and papers of Robert Lucas are 
found a number of orders and reports written by and 
to Lucas during these few weeks' service at Camp Ohio. 

51 These resolutions, reported by Lucas in 1813, were 
reproduced in the Democratic Herald of Dayton, Ohio, 
in July of 1836 to aid in the defeat of William Henry 
Harrison, who in that year was a candidate for the 
Presidency of the United States. 

52 This letter and a few others touching practically 
the same points are found among the letters and papers 
of Robert Lucas and constitute the only record of this 
interesting court of enquiry known to the author. 

20 ^ 



306 ROBERT LUCAS 

CHAPTER VIII 
^^ Journal of the Senate, 1814, passim. 

54 In Taylor's Ohio Statesmen and Annals of Prog- 
ress may be found tabulated statements of each legisla- 
tive session of the State of Ohio, giving the names of 
the members in each house and the important business 
transacted. 

55 An account of the early history of Pike County is 
found in a History of Lower Scioto Valley, Ohio, pub- 
lished by the Interstate Publishing Company. In this 
book is a description of the store of Robert Lucas. 
Here also is found the statement that his taxes for the 
year 1822 were $7.11. There were only two tax-payers 
in Pike County paying a larger tax. 

56 This hymn is one of those found in the back of the 
manuscript Executive Journal of Iowa, 18S8-18Jfl. 

57 A very detailed description of this house and a cut 
showing it as it has appeared in more recent times are 
found in Evans's History of Scioto County, Ohio, pp. 
1216, 1254. 

58 The description of Mrs. Lucas and of the home as 
it appeared in the days of the Governor is taken largely 
from the testimony of certain old residents in and near 
Piketon who still remember Aunt Friendly and the 
palmy days of Friendly Grove as a Governor's country 
seat. There is preserved among the letters and papers 
of Robert Lucas, an itemized account of the Lucas fam- 
ily with the village store at Piketon, from March 19, 
1833, to January 31, 183*7. The account makes up a 
total of $679.34^ and contains a very interesting as- 
sortment of items. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 307 

CHAPTER IX 

59 Among the letters from Caleb Atwater are found 
several written to Lucas during his Governorship, in 
which he asks the Governor for a position in connection 
with some Indian transactions which Lucas at that time 
contemplated. He adds pathetically: "The world 
seems to have forgotten me, and deserted me." A 
brief sketch of Caleb Atwater is found in the Ohio 
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, Vol. xiv, No. 
3, July, 1905, pp. 247-290. 

60 The story of this transaction is told by Senator 
Benton, of Missouri, in his Abridgments of tlie Debates 
of Congress, Vol. x, p. 197. 

61 Among the letters and papers of Robert Lucas and 
also in the unpublished Executive Documents of Ohio, 
in the State House at Columbus, are found innumerable 
letters regarding the canal question both of this time 
and of the time during his Governorship. 

62 In December of 1828 Lucas wrote to George B. 
Holt, of the Ohio Senate, and presented the claims of 
the citizens of Piketon and vicinity "for a general re- 
view of the Canal line and a revaluation of their prop- 
erty, for taxation, in Case of its removal". In this 
letter he vigorously protests against the action of the 
Canal Board in July, 1828, in locating the canal on the 
"west side of the river. He claims that of the four 
members of the Board appointed to examine the two 
sides of the river, three were in favor of the east side 
and only one in favor of the west. He gives other 
reasons why the matter should be reconsidered and the 
claim of the east or Piketon side given further attention. 



308 ROBERT LUCAS 

63 With the commissions of Robert Lucas are found 
two certificates issued to him as a presidential elector 
for the State of Ohio. One was issued in 1820 when 
he voted for James Monroe, and the other in 1828 when 
he helped to elect Andrew Jackson. 

64 Evans's History of Scioto County, Ohio, pp. 106, 
343. 

65 This story is told in the sketch of Robert Lucas, 
which appears in Keyes's Pioneers of Scioto County. 

CHAPTEE X 

66 The facts regarding this campaign were obtained 
partly from files of Ohio newspapers of the time, pre- 
served in the State Library at Columbus, Ohio. But 
by far the larger proportion were gleaned from the cor- 
respondence of Lucas with prominent Ohio politicians 
in the year of 1830. This correspondence is found 
among the letters and papers of Robert Lucas. 

67 Ohio Mo7iitor, Vol. xiv, No. 33, July 14, 1830. 

68 The letters of J. N. Hamm and Isaac Humphreys 
to Lucas, in July of 1830, give interesting descriptions 
of the gathering of the followers of Henry Clay about 
their chief at the time of the Democratic convention. 
"I saw Mr. Clay at Columbus", wrote Humphreys, 
* 'surrounded by 40 or 50 Federalists mostly of the Bar, 
he appeared Elevated with hope, Swelled with Impor. 
tance, and closely occupied." 

69 Parish's 2' he Robert Lucas Journal, p. 57. 

70 A short biographical sketch of Duncan Mc Arthur 
appears in Evans's History of Scioto County, Ohio, pp. 
165-167. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 309 

71 Concerning this faction the author has been able 
to find nothing further than a few references in letters 
written to Lucas during the course of the campaign. 
It seems to have been a local party which was strong in 
its support of Henry Clay and in opposition to the 
Jacksonian forces. 

72 Columbus Sentinel, Vol. i, No. 46, January lY, 
1832; also the Ohio State Journal (New Series), Vol. 
I, No. 11, January 11, 1832. These and other news- 
papers of the time are to be found in the State Library 
at Columbus, Ohio. 

CHAPTER XI 

73 A discussion of the origin of this first national 
nominating convention of the Democrats is found in 
Parton's Life of Andrew Jackson, Vol. iii. Chapter 
XXIX. The letter from Lewis to Kendall is therein 
quoted in full. 

74 The story of Van Buren's short term of service at 
the Court of St. James and of his rejection by the Sen- 
ate is told in many places — among others in Parton's 
Life of A7idrew Jachson, Shepard's Martin Van Buren, 
and in Benton's Thirty Years View, Vol. i. 

75 Benton's Thirty Years View, Vol. i, p. 219. 

76 The accounts of the convention itself are found in 
the files of newspapers of the time in Baltimore. 
Among these papers are the Baltimore Bepublican, the 
Baltimore Gazette, and the American Commercial Daily 
Advertiser. Items of value regarding the convention 
are found in Niles' Register and in the various Ohio 
papers of the year 1832. 



310 ROBERT LUCAS 

77 Colmnbus Sentinel^ Vol. ii, No. 12, May 31, 1832. 

78 Parton in his Life of Andreio Jackson gives other 
figures than these. But the contemporaneous news- 
papers of Baltimore which reported the convention 
concur in the figures as given above and deserve cre- 
dence in preference to a secondary source. 

79 Theodore S. Parvin, who in 1838-1839 was Private 
Secretary to Governor Lucas, makes the statement (in 
some manuscript notes in the possession of the Masonic 
Library at Cedar Rapids, Iowa) that Lucas always 
walked with a cane which was presented to him by the 
Baltimore convention for his impartial service as chair- 
man of that body. 

80 This letter from Martin Van Buren, together with a 
printed copy of the letter to him from the officers of 
the convention, is found among the letters and papers 
of Robert Lucas. 

CHAPTER XII 

81 The story of this campaign may be followed by 
reference to the Ohio newspapers, particularly the Ohio 
State Journal and Columbus Gazette and the Columbus 
Sentinel, which are found in the State House in Co- 
lumbus. Much added light, however, is given to the 
campaign by the large number of campaign letters 
found among the letters and papers of Robert Lucas. 

82 This explanation of the change of candidates is 
given in JViles^ Register, Vol. xliii, October 20, 1832, 
p. 118. 

83 Columbus Senti7iel,Yo\. ii. No. 28, October 4, 1832. 

84 mies' Register, Yo\. xliii, October 27, 1832, p. 130. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 311 

85 A good discussion — though necessarily brief — of 
the early history of Ohio is found in King's Ohio First 
Fruits oj" the JSForthicest Ordinance in the American 
Cormnonv^ealth Series. 

86 Salmon P. Chase in the introduction to his Stat- 
utes of Ohio remarks upon this weakness of executive 
authority. When Lucas was elected Governor of Ohio, 
Chase, then a young and comparatively unknown law- 
yer in Cincinnati, was busy with the compilation of 
these statutes. In March of 1833 he wrote to Lucas 
asking for information regarding the early legislation 
and history of Ohio. This letter was found among the 
unpublished Executive Documents in the State House 
at Columbus, Ohio. Here, stored away in boxes and 
classified roughly by years, are hundreds of letters to 
Lucas from Salmon P. Chase, Joshua R. Giddings, and 
many other men of national reputation. 

87 This letter and many others of like nature were 
found in the unpublished Executive Documents at Co- 
lumbus, Ohio. 

88 Allen G. Thurman became, at the age of twenty- 
one, the Private Secretary of Governor Lucas. Several 
of his letters to Lucas while the Governor was away 
from the Capital on business connected with the Ohio- 
Michigan boundary dispute, are preserved among the 
Executive Documents above referred to. In the last of 
these, dated May 31, 1835, he is about to take his de- 
parture and expresses his thanks to Lucas for his kind- 
nesses to him during his stay in Columbus. 

89 In the possession of the Western Reserve Histor- 
ical Society is a newspaper clipping containing a 
lengthy campaign sketch of Robert Lucas. It was 



312 ROBERT LUCAS 

written in 1834, and deals very largely with his serv- 
ices in the War of 1812. The writer of the sketch 
mentions his opposing candidate, James Findlay, and 
"damns him with faint praise" by characterizing him 
as a "highly honorable, gentlemanly, correct old man." 
The sketch is interesting, but contains many errors and 
is naturally very partisan in its estimates. 

CHAPTER XIII 

90 The sources from which this boundary dispute may 
be studied are numerous. The most extensive official 
sources of information are the Executive Documents and 
the Senate Documents for the 23rd and 24th Congresses. 
The correspondence between the two Governors and the 
United States government, as well as legislative reports, 
maps, and in fact almost all of the important papers 
connected with the controversy, are to be found in these 
Documents. The laws passed by Ohio and Michigan 
and the United States which bear upon the dispute will, 
of course, be found in the United States Statutes at 
Large and in the statutes of Ohio and Michigan. Poore's 
Charters and Constitutions may be referred to for the 
constitutions, organic acts, and like instruments. In the 
State House at Columbus, Ohio, are preserved in the 
unpublished Executive Documents of the State of Ohio 
a very large proportion of the extensive correspondence 
of Governor Lucas in regard to the boundary. Much 
valuable light is also thrown upon the matter by the 
letters and papers of Robert Lucas. The Journals of 
the legislatures of Ohio and Michigan, as well as the 
Congressional Globe, contain much of value. The Jour- 
nals of the extra session of the Ohio Legislative Assembly 
which Governor Lucas called in June, 1835, are indis- 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 313 

pensible. Valuable side lights upon the question are 
given by the newspapers of the time and by the con- 
temporaneous issues of JViles'' liegister. 

Among the secondary sources of information the 
most valuable is a monograph entitled 71ie Sindhern 
and Western Boundaries of MicJiic/aii written by Annah 
M. Soule and published in the PubUcatio)is of the Michi- 
gan Political Science Association, as No. 2, of Vol. ii. 
This is compiled from original sources with extensive 
footnotes, and is a scholarly piece of work. It treats of 
the dispute from the Michigan point of view. Among 
the Ohio sources the most extensive is Way's The Toledo 

War. While this pamphlet was not prepared in as 
scientific a manner as the preceding one, it contains a 
great deal of valuable information, taken to a great ex- 
tent from original sources. Much of the later literature 
upon the subject is based largely upon this work. Be- 
sides these two pamphlets there are numerous less exten- 
sive articles among which may be mentioned Galloway's 

Ohio-Michigan Boundary Line Dispute in the Ohio 
Archaeological and Historical Society Publications, Vol. 
IV, p. 199, and Robson's Jf^cA^^cm cmc? Ohio Boundary 
Line in the Michigan Pioneer Collections, Vol. xi, p. 
216. Lastly there are numerous discussions of the dis- 
pute in the various histories of the States of Michigan 
and Ohio. 

91 Way's The Toledo War, p. 8. 

92 Soule's The Southern and Western Boundaries of 
Michigan, p. 5. 

93 First Constitution of Ohio, Art. vii, sec. 6. 

94 Resolutions requesting action by the President of 
the United States in the determination of their northern 



314 ROBERT LUCAS 

boundary line were passed by the General Assembly of 
Ohio in 1807, 1809, and in 1811. — See report of com- 
mittee, Journal of Senate (extra session), June 1835, p. 
138. 

95 See the report of Elijah Hay ward. Commissioner 
of the General Land Office, Senate Documents^ 1st Ses- 
sion, 24th Congress, No. 6, pp. lOV-112. 

96 Way's The Toledo War, p. 9. 

97 This message is given in the Senate Documents, 
1st Session, 24th Congress, Doc. No. 6, p. 131. 

98 Laics of the Territory of Michigan, Vol. iii, p. 
1367. 

99 Soule's The Southern and Western Boundaries of 
Michigan, p. 22. 

100 Galloway's The Ohio-Michigan Boundary Line 
Dispute in Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society 
Publications, Vol. iv, p. 211. 

101 Way's The Toledo War, p. 17. 

CHAPTER XIV 

102 Way's The Toledo War, p. 19. 

103 See Letter of Governor Lucas to Secretary Forsyth 
in Journal of House (extra session), June, 1835, p. 63-67. 

104 For evidence of this, see the letters of John For- 
syth, Secretary of State, in Senate Documents, 1st Ses- 
sion, 24th Congress, Doc. No. 6, pp. 80-88. 

105 This opinion may be found in the Journals of the 
Senate (extra session), June, 1835, pp. 43-53. 

106 Way's The Toledo War, p. 23. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 315 

107 This letter may be found in the unpublished Ex- 
ecutive Docicfuents of the State of Ohio, preserved at 
the State House at Columbus, Ohio. 

108 Many of these letters were found among the let- 
ters and papers of Robert Lucas. 

109 See outline of legislative sessions given in Taylor's 
Ohio Statesmen and Annals of Progress. 

'^'^^ Journal of the Senate (extra session), June, 1835, 
pp. 13-120. 

111 Way's The Toledo War, p. 33. 

112 Senate Documents, 1st Session, 24th Congress, Doc. 
No. 6, pp. 86, 87. 

113 John B. Horner was in correspondence for some 
time with Governor Lucas; and the letters from him 
which are preserved among the letters and papers of 
Robert Lucas are full of the most bitter invective, sar- 
casm, and rough abuse of public officials. Especially 
does he condemn Lewis Cass, at that time Secretary of 
War and formerly Governor of the Territory of Michi- 
gan. Cass and Lucas were also involved in a bitter 
dispute at this time in which Lucas accused Cass of 
using his official position to aid Michigan. Many of 
their letters are found in the Senate Documents, 1st 
Session, 24th Congress, Doc. No. 6. 

114 A good discussion of the conventions of Michigan 
is found in Soule's The Southern and Westeryi Bounda- 
ries of Michigan, pp. 37-42. 

CHAPTER XV 

115 The Ohio State Journal and Columbus Gazette, 
Vol. XXV, No. 55, June 4, 1836. In this issue there is- 



316 ROBERT LUCAS 

also published the letter of Robert Lucas to John G. 
Miller, editor of the Spirit of Seventy- Six, relative to 
the nomination of Lucas by the State Rights Associa- 
tion. The entire correspondence is preserved in the 
letters and papers of Robert Lucas. 

116 An interesting bit of correspondence has been pre- 
served which throws some light upon the inner history 
of this election. On January 13, 1837, a letter was 
written, by a committee appointed for the purpose by a 
caucus of the Democratic legislators to Messrs. Lucas, 
Goodenow, Wood, Allen, and Dean. These gentlemen 
were asked to signify immediately in writing whether 
they would abide the nomination of the members of 
the Democratic party of the legislature for a successor 
to Mr. Ewing. In answer to this Lucas wrote the fol- 
lowing letter: — 

Columbus January 13th 1837 
Gentlemen 

Your communication of this date, was handed to me by 
Mr Van Hacher it appears to be a communication from a com- 
mittee 

In answer to the above I will state — that my name having 
been presented to the public by my friends as a candidate for U. 
S. Senate some-time before I left the Executive Chair, — I had 
determined to leave the subject entirely with them — under the 
impression that my political opinions, and public services were 
sufficiently known to the Members of the Gen'l Assembly, to de- 
serve an impartial investigation of my claims to their support — 
under this impression I rested satisfied that if on a fair investi- 
gation of my claims and the consideration [of] the claims of 
others, mine should be learned to have the preference that they 
would receive the support of the Democratic party — but if on 
the other hand, it should be learned that other individuals had 
superior claim on the support of the public — and that the inter- 
ests and honor of the state would be better suited by the election 
of an other individual — that such individual would doubtless be 
elected and it would be my duty to acquiesce in the decision. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 317 

I have not consulted with a solitary individual on the subject 
of the proper candidates neither have I had the opinions of my 
political friends expressed yet I am free to state that I am will- 
ing to comply with any arrangement that my friends may make 
with regard to the election — and in conclusion assure you that 
I have no desire to accept a seat in the U. S. [Senate] unless it is 
obtained by the free and mutual expression of the Democratic 
members of the Gen'l Assembly 

With great respect I am 

Your obt [servant] 

Robert Lucas.* 

Exactly what action the caucus took is not known; 
but in the ballotting no other name than Allen (of 
those written to by the committee) received votes, with 
the exception of Reuben Wood, and on no ballot did 
Wood receive more than two votes. — See Taylor's Ohio 
8tates'me7i and Aiinals of Progress, p. 174. 

117 State Journal and Register, Vol. xxvii, No. 8, 
October 13, 1837. 

118 Morris wrote to Lucas asking, upon a plausible 
pretext, for copies of letters by Thomas Hamer in re- 
gard to the boundary question, claiming that justice to 
Hamer and to the people of his district demanded an 
explanation of his course. Lucas at once mistrusted 
Morris, and, refusing to comply with his request, wrote 
to Hamer in regard to the matter. The subsequent 
campaign for Congress showed that Morris had been in 
search of private letters and papers to aid in the oppo- 
sition which he so bitterly made to his fellow Democrat. 

119 "It is by no means incompatible with your for- 

* [Note. — The letter of Lucas given above was written in such 
evident haste and with so many abbreviations that it has been 
thought best — contrary to the general practice in this book — to 
edit it somewhat freely.] 



318 ROBERT LUCAS 

mer stations", Hamer wrote, "and will not only throw 
you into a favorable position for future advancement — 
when the Territory becomes a State — but will enable 
you to make some money in that new & charming 
country .... The Presd't is your friend — and 
although he would not — of course — say at this time 
what he will do — I think — he will nominate you — if 

Gen. A. declines It is desirable to have a 

soldier of known bravery and military talent at the 
head of the Govt, of this new Territory. It is on the 
British frontier — all along which great excitement 
prevails — & it is not to be disguised, that in connexion 
with the Maine Boundary question — there is some fear 
that we shall have trouble with Great Britain spring- 
ing out of this excitement & the depredations to which 
it gives rise. Besides — there are numerous hordes of 
warlike Savages in the Territory &, along its borders 
who must be overawed — & chastened if necessary, 
There is some chance for ' Glory ' therefore among all 
the rest. — " 

120 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of loioa^ 1838- 
18U, p. 3. 

121 The letters of William and Samuel Reed to Lucas, 
give frequent references to this state of mind of Aunt 
Friendly after the departure of Lucas to the Territory 
of Iowa. Samuel Reed had married Rebecca, a sister 
of Robert Lucas, and it was his son, William Reed, 
who brought Abigail and Mary, daughters of Governor 
Lucas, out to Iowa in 1839. The letters referred to 
were found among the letters and papers of Robert 
Lucas and among the Public Archives, Governor's 
Office, at Des Moines, Iowa. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 319 

CHAPTER XVI 

122 Most of the facts concerning the trip down the 
Ohio River are gathered from an unpublished diary- 
kept for a long period of years by Theodore S. Parvin. 
The record begins with the first of January, 1837, in 
Cincinnati, over a year before Parvin met the Govern- 
or. The daily record from 1831 to 1843 is found in five 
small quarto volumes. After this time he used smaller 
books and the entries are more in the nature of memo- 
randa. Because of the intimate association of these two 
men, the first five volumes of the Parvin Diary contain 
much valuable material relative to Governor Lucas. 
The entire set of books is in the possession of the Ma- 
sonic Library at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

In 1839, Parvin was appointed prosecuting attorney 
for one of the districts of the Territory. He was Sec- 
retary of the Legislative Council in 1840. In the fol- 
lowing year he was elected probate judge and served in 
this oftice three terms. From 1846 to 1856 he was 
Clerk of the United States District Court; and for two 
years thereafter served as Register of the State Land 
Office. The remainder of his life was spent in academ- 
ic and Masonic circles. For ten years he was connected 
with the faculty of the State University of Iowa, dur- 
ing a part of which time he acted as Secretary of the 
State Historical Society. His most lasting contribu- 
tion to the State was his work as Grand Secretary of 
the Grand Lodge of Iowa. 

123 Jesse Williams was the first Auditor of Iowa, being 
appointed Territorial Auditor in January, 1840, at the 
time that oftice was created. The next year he was 
made Territorial Agent. In 1842 he became interested 



320 ROBERT LUCAS 

in the Iowa Capitol Heporter^ and was one of the editors 
of this paper until 1845, when, under the short Demo- 
cratic regime of Governor James Clarke, he served as 
Territorial Secretary. 

CHAPTER XVII 

124 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of lowa^ 1838- 
ISJ^l, pp. 4-13. 

125 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of loioa, 1838- 
18Jfl, p. 14. 

126 On April 20, 1838, "Citizens of the Iowa Dis- 
trict", in a public meeting at Dubuque, passed resolu- 
tions expressing their desire to see George W. Jones 
occupy the Executive Chair in the new Territory. The 
Fort Madison Patriot for May 2, 1838, takes issue with 
this suggestion, objecting strenuously to Jones because 
of his recent participation as second in the unfortunate 
Graves-Cilley duel which had so stirred the country. 
The editor, James G. Edwards, also hints that George 
W. Jones was considered in the light of a "tool" of 
Mr. Linn, of Missouri. Henry Dodge is mentioned by 
this paper as a much more acceptable candidate for the 
position. 

127 Parvin's Hon. Joseph Williams in the Iowa His- 
torical Record^ Vol. xii. No. 1, January, 1896, p. 386, 
38V. 

128 Theodore S. Parvin in a short sketch in the Annals 
of Iowa, Third Series, Vol. ii, Nos. 2-3, July-October, 
1895, p. 221, answers a few questions in regard to Con- 
way and his history previous to his coming to the Terri- 
tory of Iowa. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 321 

129 This correspondence, together with a copy of the 
commission issued to Conway and his oath of office, is 
found among the Archives of the Office of the Secretary 
of State, Des Moines, Iowa. Partly because Conway 
occupied the Office of Secretary of the Territory, a great 
deal of his correspondence, private as well as official, 
has been preserved among the records of the office and 
is of inestimable value in tracing the history of the 
ftrst year of the Territory of Iowa. 

130 This letter is found among the letters and papers 
of Robert Lucas. The manuscripts found in this collec- 
tion, taken in connection with the Archives of the Office 
of the Secretary of State at Des Moines, Iowa, make 
possible a detailed study of the affair generally known 
as "The Conway Controversy." 

131 The loiDCi Sun and Davenport & Bock Island News 
for September 1, 1838, quotes as follows from the loioa 
Neios of August 18, 1838: 

It appears from the Burlington Gazette, that a report has been 
in circulation that Acting Governor Conway had given the citi- 
zens of Davenport to understand that in the event of his issuing 
a Proclamation authorizing the election he would convene the 
Legislature at that place. 

132 Shambaugh's Documeyits Relatiyig to Governor Lu- 
cas in the Iowa Historical Record^ Vol. xvi. No. 2, 
April, 1900, p. 71; also Shambaugh's Executive Jour- 
nal of loim, 1838-18 Jfl, p. 112. The existence of the 
orginal of this Executive Journal was for so many 
years unknown that it was almost despaired of by stu- 
dents of Iowa History. It was recently found, however, 
in the possession of descendants of the Governor and 
has been edited by Professor Benjamin F. Shambaugh 

21 



322 ROBERT LUCAS 

and published by The State Historical Society of Iowa. 
The official documents contained in this Journal make 
it invaluable to anyone who wishes to study the history 
of the first three years of the Territory of Iowa. 

133 The story of this tour is told by Parvin in his 
diary, manuscript volume ii, pp. 185-200. 

134 Almost from the start a bitter antipathy existed 
between Conway and Parvin. This was natural because 
of their repective attitudes toward the Governor. When, 
in his letters, Conway has occasion to refer to Parvin he 
usually assumes a tone of contempt and often spells his 
name with a small p. 

135 The records of the diary show that Parvin did not 
(as he later in life was wont to intimate) select the Ter- 
ritorial Library. The selection was made by Lucas 
himself; while Parvin was simply employed as an agent 
to purchase and ship the books to the new Territory. 
Many of the statements made by Parvin in his later life 
are sadly at variance with his own contemporaneous 
record in his diary. This is only another illustration 
of the fact that he who lives much forgets much. 

CHAPTER XVIII 

136 A very interesting tabulation of the members of 
the first Legislative Assembly, giving age, occupation, 
nativity, height, and weight of each individual is found 
in Negus's The Early History of Iowa in the Annals of 
lowa^ Vol. VII, No. 4, October, 1869, p. 322. 

137 Shambaugh's Messages and Proclamations of the 
Governors of loioa, Vol. i, p. 75. 

138 In this communication the Secretary took occasion 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 323 

to dilate upon the trip of Parvin (whom he described 
as "a young man of rather interesting personal appear- 
ance") to Ohio for stationery and supplies, and dwelt 
upon the subsequent delays in the arrival of the goods. 
The following statements particularly offended the 
Council: 

Much exertion has been made to procure knives at Burlington. 
But knives of a suitable finish and quality, cannot be procured 
in this town; nor can knives in a sufficient quantity, of any qual- 
ity, be obtained. And the Secretary can't make knives. If he 
could do so, he would do so, with expedition and pleasure. But 
if it should comport with his own wishes, and the wishes of all 
those whom it may concern, that he should occupy his present 
station until the next session, he will take especial care to super- 
cede the necessity of any further legislation, on the subject of 
knives; — for it is the earnest and anxious wish of the Secretary, 
that all the members should have knives, and stamps, and folders; 
and all and singular, such thing or things, device or devices what- 
soever, as may facilitate the operation of the hands, in yielding 
assistance to the deliberations of the head. 

139 Although the correspondence connected with this 
controversy does not appear in the Journals of the House 
and Council it may be found in the Archives of the Of- 
fice of the Secretary of State at Des Moines, Iowa. 

CHAPTER XIX 

140 The expression that the United States government 
was a cow and should be freely milked seems to have 
been a current one among the legislators of this first 
Assembly. Lucas mentions the expression in a letter 
to Thomas Hamer, and it is frequently referred to in 
sketches of early legislation in the Territory. 

141 Journal of the House of Representatives^ 1838-1839, 
p. 25. 



324 ROBERT LUCAS 

142 Shambaugh's Documentary Material Relating to 
the History of loica. Vol. i, p. 112. 

143 In the message of Governor Lucas to the legisla- 
ture in December, 1840, is found a very forceful com- 
parison between the expenditures of Ohio and Iowa 
much to the discredit of the Territory of Iowa. — See 
Shambaugh's Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838-18Jfl, 
pp. 262, 263. In a letter to Thomas L. Hamer, found 
among the letters and papers of Robert Lucas, he also 
gives some very pertinent statistics showing the com- 
parative extravagance of the young Territory. 

144 The proceedings of this interesting convention^are 
not given in the Journals of the House and Council, 
but may be found in the Burlington Patriot (specimen 
number), December 13, 1838. 

145 In a letter to Simon Meredith, of Davenport, on 
March 11, 1839, Lucas specifically states that his letter 
had been written to Secretary Conway with no intention 
of its being addressed to any third party. He further 
states that he stopped at Mr. Conway's office and found 
him about to send a copy of Lucas's letter to the]House 
of Representatives without its being accompanied [by 
his own (Conway's) letter requesting the opinion of the 
Governor. Lucas immediately asked him not to send 
the answer without the request. Conway, however, 
failed to comply with this request and the letter of Con- 
way would not have been published had not a friend of 
Lucas noted the omission and; furnished the publisher 
with a copy from the original in the Executive Office. 
It is evident, therefore, that while the letter was sent 
to the legislature with the knowledge of Governor Lucas 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 325 

it had not been written with that intention, and with a 
less outspoken man than Lucas would have been con- 
fined to the Secretary's Office. 

This letter to Meredith was written in answer to a 
request for information upon the subject. A letter, 
written some time later from Meredith to Lucas, de- 
scribes in detail certain disturbances in Davenport over 
land claims and reads like a description of the Ku Klux 
Klan. It represents Antoine Le Claire, with whom 
Conway was intimately associated, in a very adverse 
light in connection with land negotiations, and impli- 
cates Conway in disturbances over land claims that are 
hardly creditable to the Secretary. This correspond- 
ence is found among the letters and papers of Robert 
Lucas. 

i'i6 Journal of House of Representatives, 1838-1839, 
p. 113. 

CHAPTER XX 

147 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of lovm, 1838- 
18Jfl, pp. IX, X. 

148 Clarke makes this statement in a very interesting 
letter to his father, quoted in the loica Historical Rec- 
ord, Vol. lY, No. 1, Jan. 1888, p. 4. In this letter he 
also speaks of his own possibilities for appointment 
as Secretary of the Territory, which appointment did 
occur after the death of Conway. 

149 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838- 
18Jfl, p. 69. 

150 An excellent outline of the course pursued by Gov- 
ernor Lucas in regard to vetoes is found in Shambaugh's 
History of the Constitutions of Iowa, pp. 134-142. 



326 ROBERT LUCAS 

151 These are among the papers preserved in the Ar- 
chives of the Office of the Secretary of State, Des Moines, 
Iowa. They, perhaps, show the true character of Wil- 
liam B. Conway better than any other writings which 
have been preserved. 

152 Journal of House of Representatives^ 1838-1839, 
pp. ISS-IS*?. 

153 These bills are printed as acts in the Laws of Iowa, 
1838-1839, with the note attached in each case. 

'^^ Journal of House of Representatives, 1838-1839, 
p. 223. 

155 The sessions were held in the Methodist Church, 
which was afterwards known as the "Old Zion Church". 
The Council met in the basement and the Representa- 
tives in the upper story. — See Salter's Iowa the First 
Free State in the Louisiana Purchase, p. 237. 

156 Parvin on this day attended the session and re- 
cords in manuscript volume iii, p. 37, of his diary, these 
interesting items. 

CHAPTEK XXI 

157 This document, of course, did not appear in any 
official record. It is really a private petition signed by 
public officers. A copy of it is found among the letters 
and papers of Robert Lucas and bears the following 
signatures: 

Members of the Council 
Stephen Hempstead J. D. Payne 

George Hepner L. B. Hughes 

Arthur Inghram Jonathan W. Parker 

Warner Lewis Robt. Ralston 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 327 

Members of the House of Representatives 
Chancey Swan Laurel Summers 

Hardin Nowlin George Temple 

Thomas Cox S. C. Hastings 

A. Bankson 

158 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838- 
ISJfl, p. 104. 

159 This memorial, being an official document, is print- 
ed in full in the Journal of the Mouse of Uepresenta- 
tives, 1838-1839, pp. 257-259. 

^60 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of loiva, 1838- 
18Jfl, p. 110. 

161 Letter of Conway to Lucas January 25, 1839. — 
Office of Secretary of State, Des Moines, Iowa. 

162 Both the Governor and Secretary claimed that the 
Great Seal belonged in their own possession. Lucas, 
however, had nine points of the law in his favor when 
the legislature closed and Conway was unable to regain 
the Seal before his departure to his home in Davenport. 
Angered by this he left orders for the commissions of 
the officers of the Territory not to be turned over to Lu- 
cas until the Great Seal was delivered to the Secretary. 
Lucas, however, made out new commissions and sent 
them to the various officers in the Territory without 
the signature of the Secretary. This grievance over 
the Seal forms one of the main topics of discussion in 
the one-sided correspondence between Conway and Presi- 
dent Van Buren. 

163 A copy of this letter, as well as of those mentioned 
in the preceding paragraph, is found in the Office of the 
Secretary of State, at Des Moines, Iowa. 



328 ROBERT LUCAS 

164 In Wilkie's Davenport Past and Present is found 
a series of resolutions drawn up by citizens of Daven- 
port expressing their sorrow at the death of their fellow 
townsman, William B. Conway, and paying tribute to 
his memory. 

165 The Conway controversy was so much a part of 
the history of the first year of the Territory that the 
materials to be found regarding it are rather copious. 
The official documents regarding the controversy are 
preserved (1) in the Journals of the Legislative Assem- 
bly for the term 1838-1839; (2) in the Archives of the 
Office of Secretary of State, in Des Moines, Iowa (this 
collection is very rich, containing correspondence not 
only with Iowa officials but with the United States 
Government); (3) in Shambaugh's Executive Journal of 
Iowa, 1888-181^1; (4) in Shambaugh's Messages and 
Proclamations of the Governors of loioa; and (5), 
among the letters and papers of Robert Lucas. Aside 
from these main sources, there is a great quantity of 
miscellaneous material to be found in the newspapers 
of the time. 

In the line of secondary sources, Shambaugh's His- 
tory of the Co7istitutio7is of lovm gives an excellent 
sketch of the controversy. Lloyd's Governor Pohert 
Lucas deals rather carefully with the matter, and the 
texts that treat of the history of the State give more or 
less valuable accounts of the difficulty. In the Annals 
of Iowa and the lovm Historical Record are preserved 
many brief sketches that add light to the controversy, 
among which Shambaugh's Documents Relating to Gov- 
ernor Lucas in the loioa Historical Record for January, 
1900, is the most valuable. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 329 

CHAPTER XXII 

166 The story of the Missouri-Iowa Boundary Dispute 
has never been satisfactorily written, notwithstanding 
the fact that there exists a large body of accessible 
original material relating thereto. Among the United 
States records there is found much information in the 
Congressional Globe for the period 1840-1846. The 
Seriate Documents^ Executive Documents, and the Re- 
ports of Committees (especially for the 'i'Zth Congress) 
present valuable materials in the way of official letters, 
reports, etc. In Poore's Charters and Constitutions and 
in the United States Statutes at Large are found the 
acts of Congress touching the boundary. The volumes 
of American State Papers also give some information 
that is helpful. In the main, the Missouri sources were 
not accessible to the author, although much has been 
preserved by being copied in Iowa newspapers and doc- 
uments. In Iowa the sources are extensive. In the Of- 
fice of the Secretary of State at Des Moines, Iowa, are 
found a number of official letters and papers including 
field-surveys, maps, and reports of commissioners. 
Among the letters and papers of Robert Lucas is found a 
great deal of the private and official correspondence of 
Governor Lucas in the matter. Probably the largest col- 
lections of official correspondence, however, are found 
in Shambaugh's Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838-lSJfl, 
and Shambaugh's Messages and Proclamations of the 
Governors of lovm, Vol. i. The Journals of the Legis- 
lative Assembly for 1839-1840 contain some added light. 

A very valuable source is the contemporaneous 
newspapers of the day. The Ilawk-Eye and lovxi Pa- 
triot and the loica Territorial Gazette in particular are 



330 ROBERT LUCAS 

full of information, proceedings of meetings, and ed- 
itorial comments upon the dispute. The Iowa Histori- 
cal Record, Vol. II, Nos. 1 and 2, copies a very valuable 
report of Commissioner Albert Miller Lea and also the 
Supreme Court Decision which finally settled the dis- 
pute. 

There is not a great deal to be found in secondary 
sources. Charles Negus has written a sketch for the 
Annals of Iowa, Vol. iv, No. 4, p. 743 — perhaps the 
most thorough and comprehensive that has been pre- 
pared. But Negus has only used a certain class of 
source material, and his sketch is consequently little 
more than an outline. Lander's The Southern Bound- 
ary of Iowa is an attempt to briefly outline the official 
history of the dispute and seems to be rather carefully 
prepared. This article appears in the Annals of Iowa, 
Third Series, Vol. i, No. 7, October, 1894, p. 641. In 
the same number Alfred Hebard gives some reminis- 
cences of the difficulty which are interesting (coming 
from an actual participant) but of little value histori- 
cally. Some interesting light is given in a very short 
article by Suel Foster in regard to the origin of the 
dispute and the trouble in the Half Breed Tract. This 
appears in the Annals of loioa. Vol. xi. No. 2, April, 
1873, p. 444. Beside these there are discussions to be 
found in Gue's History of Iowa, in Sabin's The Mak- 
ing of Iowa, in Salter's loica. The First Free State m 
the louisiana Purchase, and in Lloyd's Governor JRob- 
ert Lucas in the Annals of loioa, 1870. Aside from 
these there are numerous scattering and in most cases 
practically valueless references. 

167 This treaty is found in the American State Papers^ 
Vol. V, Indian Affairs, Vol. i, pp. 763, 764. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 331 

168 Lea's Report in the loxca Historical Record^ Vol. 
II, No. 1, January, 188G, pp. 194, 195. 

169 Poore's Charters and Constitutions, Vol. ii, p. 
1102. 

170 Iowa Mios, Vol. i. No. 23, Nov. 25, 1837. 

171 This letter is found among the documents pre- 
served among the Archives of the Office of the Secretary 
of State, at Des Moines, Iowa. 

172 The report of Doctor James Davis is found in the 
Executive Docume7its, 2nd Session, 27th Congress, Doc. 
No. 141, p. 17. The report of Commissioner Lea is 
quoted in full in the Iowa Historical Record, Vol. ii, 
No. 1, January, 1886, p. 193. 

173 Shambaugh's Messages and Proclamations of the 
Governors of lovm, Vol. i, pp. 123, 124. 

174 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of loina, 1838- 
18Jfl, p. 132. 

175 The Hav^h-Eye and loioa Patriot, Vol. i, No. 14, 
Sept. 5, 1839. 

176 This proclamation of Governor Boggs was sent by 
Lucas to the legislature as a document accompanying 
his second annual message. Hence it may be found in 
Shambaugh's Messages and Proclamations of the Gov- 
ernors of loica, Vol. I, p. 124. 

177 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838- 
18Jfl, p. 139. 

178 The correspondence between Heffleman and Lucas 
is found among the documents accompanying the sec- 
ond annual message of Governor Lucas. — Shambaugh's. 



332 ROBERT LUCAS 

Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of Iowa, 
Vol. I, pp. 180-136. 

179 This letter is found in the Archives of the Office 
of the Secretary of State, at Des Moines, Iowa. 

180 Negus's The Southern Boundary of Iowa, in the 
Annals of Iowa, Vol. iv. No. 4, October, 1866, p. 747. 

181 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838-- 
18Jfl, p. 170. 

182 T. S. Parvin in his diary tells of the presence of 
the Missouri Sheriff at the house of his father. 

183 Shambaugh's Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838- 
18U, p. 162. 

184 A copy of this opinion of the United States At- 
torney was found in manuscript form among the letters 
and papers of Robert Lucas. 

185 A copy of these orders was found among the letters 
and papers of Robert Lucas. 

186 Many of the facts regarding this army were found 
in the letters and papers of Robert Lucas. Others were 
gathered from the reminiscences of pioneers, which have 
appeared from time to time in the Aymals of loica and 
in the loioa Historical Record. 

187 See Report of Stephen Whicher in the Hawk-Eye 
and Iowa Patriot, Vol. i, No. 29, Dec. 19, 1839. 

^^^ Journal of the House, 1839-1840, p. 98. 

189 The proceedings of this meeting together with the 
propositions made by the visiting delegation are given 
in full in the Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot, Vol. i, No. 
28, Dec. 12, 1839. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 333 

1^ In the Executive Documents, 2nd Session, 27th 
Congress, Vol. iii, Doc. No. 141, p. 11, is found the re- 
port of Deputy Marshal Hendry to Lucas. 

191 Parvin records this item in his diary under the 
date of December 21, 1839: "The Border war turned 
to be a Humbug — troops returned — a drinking frolic 
followed." 

192 See Congressional Globe, 1841-1842, pp. 770, 771; 
also Reportsof Committees, 2nd Session, 27th Congress, 
Vol. IV, Report No. 791. 

193 Negus's The Southerri Boundary of lovm in Annals 
of Iowa, Vol. V, No. 1, January, 1867, p. 788. 

194 JJnited States Statutes at Large, Vol. ix, p. 52. 

CHAPTER XXIII 

195 Shambaugh's Constitution and Records of the Claim 
Association of Johnson County, Iowa, p. 82. This 
work, edited from the original manuscript, presents a 
valuable study of an early stage in the evolution of 
land titles in Iowa. 

196 Shambaugh's jTowft City, A Contribution to the Early 
History of Iowa, p. 33. This book covers the period 
in the history of Iowa City when that town was the 
capital successively of the Territory and State of Iowa. 
It contains, therefore, much material of interest and 
value to the student of the early history of Iowa. 

197 The Journal of the proceedings of the Commis- 
sioners to locate the Seat of Government was found by 
Professor Benj. F. Shambaugh among the Archives of 
the Auditor's Office, Des Moines, Iowa, and published 
in the Iowa Historical Record, Vol. xvii, No. 2, April, 



334 ROBERT LUCAS 

1902, p. 460. It is not long, covering only two pages 
of matter, but it is a very interesting and valuable 
contribution to early Iowa history. 

198 Among the letters and papers of Robert Lucas are 
many letters to and from the general government in re- 
gard to the payment of Territorial salaries. Recorded 
in the manuscript of a memorandum of bills and reso- 
lutions kept by Robert Lucas is an account by which 
the United States government is credited with certain 
allowances to the Office of Superintendent of Indian 
Affairs. The payment of moneys to Jesse Williams as 
Messenger is a prominent part of this account. See 
Shambaugh's Executive Journal of Iowa, I8S8—I8J4.I, 
p. 312. 

199 A large collection of the letters of the Territorial 
Governors in their capacity as Superintendents of In- 
dian Affairs have been carefully bound in manuscript 
volumes by the Historical Department, Des Moines, 
Iowa. 

200 Bloomington Herald, Vol. i, No. 23, April 2, 1841. 

201 Hawk-Eye and loioa Patriot, Vol. 11, Nos. 50 and 
51, May 13 and May 20, 1841. 

202 This letter to Daniel Webster is in no way a com- 
plaint. It is a simple statement of the facts connected 
with the taking of office by his successor, John Cham- 
bers. It constitutes the last letter recorded in the Ex- 
ecutive Journal of loica, during the administration of 
Robert Lucas. The full text of the letter is found in 
Shambaugh's Executive Journal of Iowa, 1828-18 J^.!, 
p. 277. 

203 An examination of the records of the Iowa Lodge 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 335 

No. 2 (Muscatine) and No. 4, (Iowa City) gives valuable 
information regarding the whereabouts of Lucas during 
the last twelve years of his life. 

CHAPTER XXIV 

204 Facts regarding this campaign are to be found in 
The Ohio State Journal, Vol. vii, Nos. 36 and 41, 

Sept. 30 and Oct. 12, 1843; in The loim Standard, 
Vol. IV, No. 27, July 4, 1844, and in The Ohio States- 
man, Vol. IV, No. 607, Sept. 5, 1843. The last named 
paper contains the following comment upon the views 
of Lucas: 

General Robert Lucas, who for two terms made one of the most 
popular governors Ohio ever had, is in favor of taking possession, 
and if need be, with an armed force, of the Territory of Oregon. 

205 The story of the agitation for a State government 
is told in Shambaugh's History of the Constitutions of 
Iowa, pp. 145-175. 

206 The discussion over the eligibility of Robert Lu- 
<5a8 for a seat in the Constitutional Convention may be 
found in The Iowa Capital Rejyorter and The Iowa 
Standard for the months of June, July, and August, 
1844. 

207 Shambaugh's Fragments of the Debates of the Iowa 
Constitutional Conventions of ISJfJf and 18Jf6 along with 
Press comments and Other Materials on the Constitu- 
tions of ISJfJf and 18Jf6 is the most valuable source of 
information regarding the conventions. The materials 
given in this volume were collected and reprinted from 
the newspapers of the Territory of Iowa for the time 
of the two conventions. In appendices also is given 
valuable data concerning the members of the Conven- 
tions of 1844 and 1846. 



336 ROBERT LUCAS 

208 A series of four boundary maps was made by 
Bertha H. Shambaugh for the Department of Political 
Science of the State University of Iowa. Two of these 
show the location of the Lucas Boundaries and the 
Nicollett Boundaries of the State of Iowa. Cuts from 
these maps appear in connection with a short article on 
the boundary history of Iowa by Professor Benj. F. 
Shambaugh in the The Iowa Journal of History and 
Politics, Vol. II, No. 3, July, 1904, p. 369. 

209 This letter, written from Jasper, Pike County, 
Ohio, on February 18, 1845, is found among the letters 
and papers of Robert Lucas. 

210 This letter of introduction is preserved among the 
Archives of the Office of Secretary of State, at Des 
Moines, Iowa. 

211 Much of this correspondence has been preserved 
among the letters and papers of Robert Lucas and in 
The Iowa Republican, Vol. iv, No. 50, Sept. 15, 1852. 

212 The proceedings of this meeting are reported in 
The Iowa Republican, Vol. iv. No. 50, Sept. 15, 1852. 

CHAPTER XXV 

213 The Ohio Statesman, Vol. vi. No. 607, Sept. 5, 
1843. See note 204. 

214 mies' Register, Vol. xliv, Dec. 26, 1835, p. 291. 

CHAPTER XXVI 

215 Missouri and Illiyiois Temperance Herald, Vol. iv. 
No. 7, December, 1839. The same issue of this paper 
devotes a column to a discussion of the temperance 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 337 

views of Robert Lucas as represented in his message to 
the Second Legislative Assembly in December, 1839. 

216 On June 8, 1852, Robert Lucas wrote: 

In compliance with your request, I herewith send you by mail, 

my Daguerreotype that I had taken yesterday for the purpose. 

It is thought to be a good likeness. 
I am now in my 72nd year of age. My h[e]ight is at this time 

5 feet and 10 inches, weight 146 po[u]nds— 

The particulars in regard to height and weight are 
given upon the request of Mr. Van Dien, to whom this 
letter is addressed. A number of letters upon the sub- 
ject have been preserved, in one of which Lucas remarks 
that he has not the money to pay for many copies of 
the picture but will subscribe for five copies at five 
dollars each. The daguerreotype which he mentions is 
probably the one from which both the Yewell portrait 
in the rooms of the State Historical Society, at Iowa 
City, Iowa, and the Murray portrait at the Historical 
Department, Des Moines, Iowa, were painted. 

2i7Xatos of loioa, 1848-1849, p. 59. 

218 The loiGa Capitol Reporter^ Vol. vii. No. 40, Dec. 
27, 1848. Little account seems to have been taken in 
the history of education in Iowa of this early teachers' 
convention which was the fore-runner of the State 
Teachers' Association. 

219 The loica Repuhlican, Vol. 11, No. 18, Jan. 80, 
1850. 

220 The loioa Capitol Reporter^ Vol. viii. No. 45, 
Feb. 27, 1850. 

221 Friendly A. Lucas outlived her husband more than 
twenty years. On December 18th, 1873, she died and 
was buried in the cemetery at Iowa City. Beside his 

22 



338 ROBERT LUCAS 

wife, two sons and four daughters survived Lucas. Of 
the sons, Robert, filled with the heritage of the pioneer 
spirit, moved out to Nebraska in its early days, and, 
after helping to organize Pierce County of that State, 
died there leaving a son Robert, who is at present 
engaged in live stock business in Nebraska. The other 
son of the Governor, Edward, who as a boy had migrated 
to Iowa on horseback, became a Lieutenant Colonel in 
the War of Rebellion and was later prominent in poli- 
tical life. He was for some time postmaster at Iowa 
City, and in 1882 and in 1884 served in the House of 
Representatives of the State. His death occurred in 
December, 1900. His only surviving son, Robert, still 
lives at Iowa City, although the old home at Plum Grove 
is no longer occupied by the Lucas family. 

Of the four daughters, Minerva, daughter of his 
first wife, married Horatio Sumner, and moved finally 
to Denver, Colorado, where she died. Abigail and 
Susannah became respectively Mrs. Nealley and Mrs. 
Smith. Mary is the only child of the Governor who 
is now alive. She is unmarried and lives with her 
nephew at Iowa City, hearty and vigorous despite her 
nearly fourscore years. 

122 On the west side of a tall shaft erected over the 

the grave of Robert Lucas is the following inscription: 

Robert Lucas Died Feb. 7, 1853; Aged 71 Ys. 10 Ms. & 6 Ds. 
He served his country in the war of 1812. Was elected twice 
governor of Ohio. And was the organic governor of Iowa Ter- 
ritory. I am the resurrection and the life: he that helieveth in 
me though he were dead, yet shall he live. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abolitionists, agitation of, 281 

Adams, John Quincy, in campaign 
of 1824, 84; letter concerning, 
85; supports claims of Michigan, 
147 

Adams County (Ohio), Joseph Lu- 
cas a representative of, 6 ; coun- 
ty line of, 8 

America, return of Van Buren to, 
110 

American Colonies, Revolution of, 3 

Alabama, 111 

Allen, William, election of, to Con- 
gress, 118; marries daughter of 
Duncan McArthur, 119; goes to 
Washington, 144 ; election of, to 
United States Senate, 153 

Alton (Illinois), 165 

Anderson, Lieutenant, battery erect- 
ed by, 51 

Ann Arbor, "Frost Bitten Conven- 
tion" at, 149 

Anti-Jacksonians, in campaign of 
1832, 116; in campaign of 1834, 
125 

Anti-Masonic party in Ohio, Ly- 
man nominated by, 116; agree 
to combination with National Re- 
publicans, 117 

Anti-Masons, convention of, 105 

Appropriation bill of Territory of 
Iowa, 221 

Athenaeum, Baltimore, meeting of 
national convention in, 111 

Atkinson, Henry, offered Governor- 
ship of Territory of Iowa, 156, 
157, 170 

Atwater, Caleb, letters of, to Lucas 
83, 84 

Atwater, Reuben, Lucas given des- 
patches to, 32 

Aux Canards River, capture of 
bridge over, 40 ; reference to, 44 

Avery, J. C, introduces Parvin to 
Lucas, 160 

Bailev, Gideon S., defends Lucas, 

194, 195 
Baldwin, Eli, nomination of, 150 
Ballard, S. M., correspondence of, 

with Lucas, 276 
Baltimore, Anti Masons hold con- 
vention at, 105 ; Democratic na- 
tional convention at, 110; Lucas 
returns from, 115 



Baltimore Convention, the, of 1832, 
105-114, 117 

Bank of United States, 98, 279 

Bankson, A., reports memorial 
praying for removal of Lucas, 
214 

Barbour, Philip P., mentioned as 
Vice Presidential candidate, 106, 
110; votes for, in convention, 113 

Barnes, John, passenger on early 
steamboat, 4; member of Ohio 
legislature, 4 

Barnes, Joseph, steamboat of, 2, 4 

Barnes, Susannah, William Lucas 
marries, 2 

Barren, Captain, company of, 47 

Barron, Commodore, fired upon, 
11; surrenders Chesapeake, 12 

Beard, Mr., Lucas accompanied by, 
34; conversation of Lucas with, 
50 

Beasley, Nathaniel, survey of coun- 
ty line by, 8 

Bell, General, enlists troops at Per- 
rysburg, 136; army under, dis- 
banded, 142 

Belmont County (Ohio) represent- 
ed by Charles Hammond, 72 

Benton, Thomas H., 85 ; story told 
by, 109 ; supports claims of Michi- 
gan, 147; urges appointment of 
General Atkinson, 156 

Benton, Thomas Hart, Jr., helps 
to organize Educational Conven- 
tion of Iowa, 286, 287 

Berlin decree, issue of, 10 

Big-Appletree, attack at, 45 

Black Hawk treatv. 232 

Black Hawk War, 232 

Bloomington (Iowa), 176; hotel 
keeper of, 246 ; troops march 
from, 249 ; Lucas makes his 
home at, 265; Lucas family 
leaves, 267 

Blue Ridge peaks, Edward Lucas 
crosses, 2 

Boggs, Lilburn, issues proclamation 
from Missouri, 241 ; issues or- 
ders for troops, 245 ; suspension 
of hostilities by, requested, 251; 
does not favor resolutions of 
Iowa legislature, 252; does not 
sanction action of Clark County 
Court, 254 



342 



INDEX 



Bond, William Key, in meeting of 
militia officers at Camp Ohio, 64 ; 
withdrawal of, in favor of Mc- 
Arthur, 116 

Bonser, Major Isaac, celebration 
on farm of, 17 

Boundaries, Ohio-Michigan, 126- 
149; Missouri-Iowa, 227-257 

Boynton, Rhoda, letter from, 152 

Briggs, Ansel, elected Governor of 
Iowa, 274 

British, headquarters of, 35; skir- 
mishing with, 41, 50; energy 
among, 51, 52; landing of, at 
Spring Well, 52 ; take posses- 
sion of garrison at Detroit, 57 

British Islands, blockaded, 11 

Brock, Isaac, arrival of, at Mai- 
den, 35; energy of, 40; refer- 
ence to, 49 

Brown, Elizabeth, marriage of, to 
Lucas, 17, 22, 24 

Brown, Ethan Allen, election of, to 
United States Senate, 77 

Brown, Jesse B., Lucas sends in- 
structions to, 248 ; officer of bor- 
der troops, 249 

Brown, John, tavern of, 16, 288; 
attempt of, to assist Lucas, 22 ; 
Lucas requests meeting of troops 
at tavern of, 23 

Brown, Joseph C, surveys bound- 
ary of Missouri, 234; examina- 
tion of survey of, 236, rapids 
designated by, 237; survey of, 
237, 239 

Brown, Joseph W., in charge of 
army at Toledo, 137; accompa- 
nies posse comitatus, 142 

Brown, Rachel, marriage of, to 
William Kendall, 17 

Brownstown, Indians near, 45 ; ex- 
pedition approaches, 46; attack 
at, 46 

Brush, Captain, expedition to meet, 
44, 50, 52 

"Buckeye", letter to Lucas signed, 
143 

Buckland's Geology, Lucas reads, 
163 

Bucks County (Pennsylvania), habi- 
tat of Lucas family, 1; ceases to 
be frontier, 2 

Buffalo (New York), invasion of 
Canada from, 35 

Burlington (Iowa), 172, 176, 177, 
178, 190, 214, 216, 225 235, 
264; Lucas arrives at, 167; Con- 
way arrives at, 170; meeting of 
bar of, 172; troops start from, 
249; Legislative Assembly at, 
250 ; delegates from Missouri at, 
251; Chambers arrives at, 263; 
Edward Lucas arrives at, 266 



Burlington House, Lucas lodges at, 
168 

Burnet, Jacob, with Henry Clay at 
Columbus, 96; leads Anti-Jack- 
son men in 1834, 125 

Burrows, Theo. H., defense of Lu- 
cas by, 90 

Butler, Benjamin F., legal opinion 
of, 141 

Calhoun, John C, influence of, in 
Congress, 26; casts deciding vote 
against Van Buren, 109 ; quota- 
tion from, 109; rejection of Van 
Buren by, 110 

Camp Necessity, Hull's armv at, 
36 

Camp Ohio, Lucas at, 63 

Campbell, Alexander, assists Lucas 
to secure commission, 28 

Campbell, Judge, considered for 
Governorship of Ohio, 96 ; sup- 
ports Lucas for Governor of 
Ohio, 98 

Canada, border of, threatened, 13 ; 
invasion of, 26, 35, 37, 38, 48, 
62 ; 4th regiment transported to, 
56; reference to, 66, 67; line 
between United States and, 127 

Canal, Miami and Dayton, 88, 148 

Canal, Ohio, construction of, 80, 
81, 88; trouble over route of, 
88, 89, 90, 91 

Canal Commissioners, 80, 88, 89, 
90 

Canal legislation, interest of Lucas 
in 80, 81 

Canals, construction of favored by 
Lucas, 123; effect of completion 
of, upon Ohio-Michigan boundary 
dispute, 133 

Canton, Lucas passes through, 59 

Capitol, Old Stone, corner stone 
laid, 259; convention of 1844 
meets in, 269; State convention 
of teachers meets in, 286 ; rail- 
way convention in, 287 

Carroll, Charles, members of con- 
vention visit, 114 

Cass, Lewis, chosen Colonel of 
Ohio troops, 30 ; crosses Detroit 
River, 38; given permission to 
capture bridge, 40 ; objects to 
evacuation of bridge, 42 ; asks 
to take detachment to bury dead 
at Brownstown, 47; expedition 
of, to meet Captain Brush, 52 ; 
troops of, surrendered, 53 ; re- 
port of Hull campaign by, 59, 60 

Caucus, failure of Congressional, 
105 

Cavaliers, days of, 25 

Chambers, John, chosen Governor 
of Territory of Iowa, 263; as- 



INDEX 



343 



sumes executive duties, 264 ; re- 
tains his seat until 1845, 272 
Chapman, W. W., letter from Clark 
to, 225; defends claims of Iowa, 
254 
Charlotte, Queen, arrives at Mai- 
den, 35 
Chesapeake affair, 11-15 
Cheves, Langdon, influence of, in 

Congress, 26 
Chillicothe, Ohio legislature at, 6, 
18 ; troops encamp at, 29 ; re- 
cruiting at, 61; newspapei-s of, 
64; letters returned to, 66; court 
of enquiry convened at, 67 ; Mr. 
Madeira a tavern keeper of, 73 ; 
reference to, 88, 153 ; conven- 
tion in, 267 
Chillicothe Evening Post, 99. 
Chippewas, address of General Hull 

to, 33 
Churchman, James, member of del- 
egation sent to Waterloo, 253 
Cincinnati, 80, 133, 160, 161, 176, 

177, 178 
Cincinnati Gazette, 96, 99 
Circleville, (Ohio), 67, 83, 266 
Civil War, Lucas predicts, 283 
Clark, Colonel, member of court 

of enquiry, 68 
Clark, Governor, of Missouri, 242 
Clark, J. A., member of delegation 

sent to Waterloo, 253 
Clarke, James, invitation signed by, 
168; attitude of, toward Conway, 
201: letter of, concerning Terri- 
torial finances, 225; succeeds 
Conway as Secretary, 226; ap- 
pointed Governor of Territory of 
Iowa, 272 
Clark County (Missouri), officers 
of, attempt to collect taxes, 239; 
meeting of citizens of, 241; Sher- 
iff of, collects taxes in A^an 
Buren County, 244, 245; dele- 
gates from, 244, 251; order of 
County Court of, 253, 254 
Clay, Henry, leadership of,in House 
26; advantages of Jackson over, 
83 ; receives vote of Ohio in 
1824, 84; visit of, to Ohio in 
1830, 96, 98; nominee for Presi- 
dency, 105 ; speech of, against 
Van" Buren, 108, 110 
Clermont, Fulton's steamboat, 3 
Cleveland (Ohio), 58, 80 
Clinton, DeWitt, inaugurates work 

on Ohio canal, 80 
Coalition Party, opposed to plan of 
conventions, 96; McArthur the 
candidate of, for Governor of 
Ohio, 97 
"Coffin Hand Bills," use of, 98 



Cole, William R., appointment of, 

on committee, 72 
Columbus (Ohio), Democratic 
State convention at, 96; 102, 
103, 150; reference to, 157 
Columbus /Sentinel, quotation from, 

117 
Compromise of 1850, 275 
Congress, meeting of, in 1811, 26; 
levy of troops authorized by, 27; 
declaration of war by, 37; pecu- 
liar legislation in, 85 ; McArthur 
elected to, 97; McArthur runs 
for, 116; division of Northwest 
Territory by, 127; action of, con- 
cerning boundaries of Ohio and 
Michigan, 129; requires north- 
ern boundary of Ohio to be re- 
marked, 130; fails to confirm 
Harris line, 133 : considers ad- 
mission of Michigan, 147 ; re- 
stores spirit of Ordinance of 
1787, 148; passes act creating 
Territory of Iowa, 155 ; amends 
Organic Act of Territory of Io- 
wa, 219; provides for exten- 
sion of jurisdiction of Missouri, 
234; authorizes marking of 
boundary line of Iowa, 235; Lea 
suggests decision of boundary 
question by, 238; passes act for 
appointment of boundary com- 
missioners, 254; authorizes sub- 
mission of boundary question to 
Supreme Court, 255; Constitu- 
tion of Iowa submitted to, 271 
Congressional caucus, failure of, 

105 
Constitutional Convention in Iowa, 

vote on, 261, 268 
Constitutional Convention of 1844, 

269, 280 
Continental Army, service of Wil- 
liam Lucas in, 3 
Convention of 1832, national Demo- 
cratic, 105-114 
Conway, William B., meets Gov- 
ernor Lucas, 167; Secretary, 
168-178; early career of, 170; 
appointment of, 170; issues proc- 
lamation, 172 ; letter of, to Lu- 
cas. 172; home of, at Daven- 
port, 173: humiliation of, 174; 
correspondence of, with Lucas, 
176; interview of, with Parvin, 
177; controversies of, 184; Ter- 
ritorial expenditures and, 187- 
199; requests opinion of Lucas, 
191; submits communication to 
legislature, 192 ; speech of, in 
conference, 194; standpoint of, 
in matter of expenditures, 196; 
concurs with the legislature, 199; 



344 



INDEX 



relations with Lucas, 200, 202 ; 
neglects to perform executive du- 
ties, 201, 222; ambitions of, 
201; recommendation to legisla- 
ture, 202 ; "unequivocal" answer 
to Lucas, 203 ; crisis with Lu- 
cas, 205; appointed "fiscal 
agent," 207; financial difficulties 
of, 208 ; correspondence with 
President of the United States, 
209, 219, 224; gives informa- 
tion to legislature, 212, 213; fi- 
nal stages in career of, 220 ; ex- 
tra allowance of, 222, 223; let- 
ter to Lucas from, 223 ; position 
of, after adjournment of session, 
224; accounts with United States 
Treasury, 225; death of, 225; 
alleged defalcation of, 225, 226 

Cook, Captain, stays at Gowris, 48 

"Corrupt bargain," charges of, 84 

Court of enquiry, Lucas tried by, 
65 ; Lucas's story of, 66-68 ; ref- 
erence to, 91, 99 

Court of St. James, Van Buren 
goes to, 107 

Crary, Isaac, represents State of 
Michigan, 147 

Croghan, Major, defense of Fort 
Stephenson by, 63 

Cromwell, Oliver, fighting under, 25 

Cumberland Gap, migration through, 
4 

Daliba (Dallaby) Lieutenant, bat- 
tery erected by, 51 

Dallaby (see Daliba) 

Darby, Lucas crosses, 32 

Darke, Mary, marries Edward Lu- 
cas, 2 

Davenport, Colonel George, influ- 
ence of, over Conway, 173 

Davenport, 173, 174, 175, 176, 
177, 223 

Davenport and Council Bluffs Rail- 
road, convention in interests of, 
288 

Davidson, John, letter from Lucas 
to, 87 

Davis, Garrett, supports claims of 
Iowa, 254 

Davis, James, appointed boundary 
commissioner, 236; report of, 
236 

Dayton, troops rendezvous at, 29; 
Indian alarm reaches, 30; Lucas 
returns to, 31; canal to, 80 

Dearborn, Henry, request of, for 
troops, 9 

Declaration of Independence, read 
by Lucas, 17; last survivor of 
signers of, 114 

Delaware, Lucas reaches, 32 



Delawares, address of General Hull 
to, 33 

Delawder, Mr., a candidate against 
Lucas for Ohio Senate, 94 

Democracy, leaders of the, 104; 
loss of electoral votes by, 148 ; 
factions of, 275; Jefferson the 
apostle of, 278 

Democratic Partv, national conven- 
tion of, in 1832, 105-114; Van 
Buren receives nomination of, 
113; allegiance of Lucas to, 275; 
Lucas leaves, 275 

Democratic Republicans, Lucas a 
candidate of, 96 

Democratic voters, appeal to, 117 

Democrats, in campaign of 1829, 
92; plans of, in 1830, 95; State 
convention of, in 1830, 95, 96; 
activity of, in 1831, 101, 102, 
103 ; preparations of, for cam- 
paign of 1832, 115; hopes of, in 
1836, 152; candidates of, for 
convention of 1844, 269 

Denny, James, chosen Major, 29; 
stays at Gowris, 48 ; troops of, 
board ship, 58; Lucas under 
command of, 66; letter of, to Lu- 
cas, 67-68 

Denny, William, Lucas accompa- 
nied by, 32 ; leaves Upper San- 
dusky, 34; remains at River 
Raisin, 34 

Des Moines River, 165, 230, 231, 
232, 234, 236, 238 

Detroit, troops to march to, 28; 
Lucas sent to, 32; Lucas arrives 
at, 34; Lucas leaves, 35; Hull 
ships papers to, 37; march of 
army to, 37; reference to, 38, 
47; retreat of American army to, 
48 ; Hull's army camps at, 49 ; 
Miller ordered back to, 50 ; sur- 
render of, 53 ; Harrison attempts 
march on, 62 ; letters sent to, 66 

Detroit River, 38, 44, 49 

Dickinson, Mr., mentioned as Vice 
Presidential candidate, 106 

Disney, D. T., goes to Washing- 
ton, 144 

Doddridge, Philip, with Henry 
Clay at Columbus, 96 

Dodge, Augustus C, officer of bor- 
der troops, 249 ; member of dele- 
gation sent to Waterloo, 253 ; 
defends claims of Iowa, 254 

Dodge, Henry, mentioned for Gov- 
ernorship, 169 

Douglas, Richard, withdrawal of, 
in favor of Mc Arthur, 116 

Dubuque (Iowa), 172, 173, 175, 
249 



INDEX 



345 



Dubuque and Keokuk Railroad, 
convention of friends of, 287 

Dubuque Street (Iowa City), 259 

Eaton, John H., nominates Lucas 
as chairman pro tern of conven- 
tion, 111 

"Ebonies" ("Ebonites") activity 
of, in campaign of 1830, 99, 100 

"Ebonites" ("Ebonies") 

Education, encouraged by Lucas, 
119, 286 

Education in Iowa, 180 

Educational Convention of Iowa, 
The, 286 

Edwards, J. C, vetoes act of Mis- 
souri legislature, 255 

Edwards, James G., ordered to 
print report on vetoes, 211; tem- 
perance ideas of, 285 

Ellmaker, Amos, nominee for Vice 
Presidency, 105 

England, Lucas family in, 1 ; alle- 
giance of colonists to, 3 ; affairs 
between United States and, 10, 
11, 25; Commissioner sent by, 
to America, 14; Van Buren ap- 
pointed Minister to, 107 ; Van 
Buren and Irving tour through, 
108 ; effect of Van Buren's re- 
jection in, 110; return of Van 
Buren from, 114 

Erie, Lake, 37, 62, 81, 127, 130, 
131, 133, 135 

Europe, Van Buren tours conti- 
nent of, 110 

Ewing, Thomas, with Henry Clay 
at Columbus, 96; supports 
claims of Ohio, 147; terra of, 
expires, 152 ; votes for, 153 ; as- 
sistant counsel for Iowa in boun- 
dary case, 256 

Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838- 
1841, viii, 169, 291 

Expenditures, Territorial, 187-199; 
220 

Fairfax, Lord, land of, 2 

Fairfield County (Ohio), 83 

Farminglon (low?.) border troops 
gather at, 249 ; troops at, dis- 
banded, 253 

Federal party, 274 

Federalists, in election of 1829, 92, 
93 

Felkner, Henry, chosen delegate to 
convention of 1844, 269 

Fletcher, Jonathan, Lucas sends 
orders to, 248 ; visits Iowa City 
with Lucas, 259 

Findlay, James, chosen Colonel of 
Ohio troops, 30; detachment of, 
delayed by Hull, 51; candidate 
for Governor of Ohio in 1834, 
124 ; earlier career of, 124 



Fort Miami, Ohio troops camp at, 
136 

Fort Stephenson, attack upon, 62, 
63 

Forsyth, John, notifies Lucas of ap-. 
pointment, 158 ; letter of, to Con- 
way, 170, 171; letters of Lucas 
to, concerning charges, 217, 218 

Fowler, Mr., death of, at Browns- 
town, 47 

Fox Indians, 229, 231 

France, Louisiana ceded to, 9 ; af- 
fairs between United States and, 
10, 11, 25 

Franklinton (Ohio), newspapers of, 
64 

Free Soilers, 275 

French, American forces warned 
by, 45 

French Island, 163 

Fruit Hill, home of McArthur and 
Allen, 119 

Friendly Groye, letter dated at, 66 ; 
home of Lucas so named, 78 : 
reference to, 153, 154, 157, 268; 
Mrs. Lucas leaves, 266 

Frierson, John, bill of, 189; de- 
fends Lucas, 194, 195 ; asks to 
present counter memorial, 214 

"Frost Bitten Convention," 149 

Fulton, John A,, line surveyed by, 
132 

Fulton, Robert, steamboat of, 3 

"Fulton Line," 132 

Galena (Illinois), 175, 177 

Gallia County (Ohio), 70 

Gambling, attitude of Lucas to- 
ward, 180 

Gault, Colonel, prisoner said to be 
abused by, 122 

Gazette, Iowa Territorial, 201 

Gehon, Francis, United States Mar- 
shal, 245 

Georgetown (Pennsylvania), Lucas 
stops at, 59 

Glover, Elijah, Lucas takes oath 
before, 16 ; Lucas arrested by, 
22, 24; charges Lucas with for- 
gery, 65 ; letters signed by, 66, 
67; testimony of, in court of 
enquiry, 67, 68; suit of Lucas 
against, 68 ; renews charges of 
forgery against Lucas, 91 

Glover, Nathan, helps in arrest of 
Lucas, 22, 23, 24 

Gowris, Major Denny at, 48 

Great Lakes, Mitchell's map inac- 
curate as to, 127 

Green, Duff, 85 

Greenville, Indian murders near, 
30 

Gregorv, Uriah S., arrest of, 245, 
246 ' 



346 



INDEX 



Grimes, James W., invitation signed 
by, 168 ; member of First Leg- 
islative Assembly, 179 ; opposi- 
tion of, to Lucas, 194 ; chairman 
of committee on vetoes, 209; re- 
port of, 210; moves to refuse 
counter memorial, 214; officer of 
border troops, 249 ; welcomes 
Governor Chambers, 263 

Hale, Samuel H., resolution of, 
concerning canals, 88 

Hamer, Thomas L., letter to Lucas 
from, 98 ; informs Lucas of af- 
fairs at Washington, 143 ; sup- 
ports claims of Ohio, 147; denies 
rumors concerning Lucas, 151; 
relations with Lucas, 155 : sup- 
ports Lucas for Governorship of 
Territory of Iowa, 156-158; let- 
ter to Lucas concerning expendi- 
tures, 220; Lucas writes to, con- 
cerning slavery and other pub- 
lic questions, 282 

Hamra, John, supports Lucas for 
Governor, 98 

Hammond, Charles, Lucas attacked 
by, 72 ; answered by Lucas, 73 ; 
with Clay at Columbus, Ohio, 96; 
leads opposition to Lucas in 
1830, 99 

Hampton Roads, Chesapeake leaves, 
11; Chesapeake returns to, 12 

Harris, William, survey of bound- 
ary line by, 131; report of, to 
United States authorities, 132 

"Harris Line," 132, 134, 135, 136, 
138, 140, 145, 147, 149 

Harrison, William Henry, victory 
of, at Tippecanoe, 26; takes 
charge of Northwestern Army, 
62 ; dismisses Ohio volunteers, 
63 ; conduct of, arraigned by 
militia oificers, 64 ; McArthur 
serves under, 98; election of. 
262; enmity between Lucas and 
262; resolutions condemning, 
262; appoints Chambers as Gov- 
ernor, 263; death of, 263; Lu- 
cas removed by, 272 

Hastings, S. C, officer of border 
troops, 249 

Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot, 285 

Hawkins, Joseph C, aspires to 
Governorship, 263 

Havne, Robert Y., speech of, against 
Van Buren, 108 

Hayward, Elijah, letters to Lucas 
from, 86, 153 ; supports Lucas 
for Governor of Ohio, 98 

Heffleman, Henry, writes to Lucas 
of affairs on the border, 244 ; 
arrests Missouri Sheriff, 246 



Hempstead, Giles S. B,, candidate 
for Ohio Senate, 92, 93 

Hempstead, Stephen, member of 
First Legislative Assembly, 179; 
resolutions drafted by, concern- 
ing Lucas, 193 ; opposition of, to 
Lucas, 194; participates in con- 
vention of 1844, 270 

Hendry, Deputy Marshal, report of 
Whicher to, 250 ; gathers force 
of militia as posse comitatus, 252; 
sends deputation to Waterloo, 252 

"Henry," communication signed, 
90 

Henry County (Ohio), 134 

Herd, Samuel, watches outside 
camp, 31; crosses Aux Canards 
River, 41 

Hersey, Thomas, a candidate against 
Lucas for Senatorship, 76 ; with- 
draws from Senatorial race, 77 

Hickman, Captain, Lucas stays 
with, 34 

Hill, Isaac, Amos Kendall visits, 
106 

Hitchcock, Judge, activity of, in 
campaign of 1830, 100 

Hocking County (Ohio), 83 

Hogue, Nimrod, assists in arrest of 
Lucas, 24 

Horner, John S., appointed Acting 
Governor of Territory of Michi- 
gan, 145 ; career of, in Territory 
of Michigan, 146 

Howard, Benjamin C, commission- 
er to confer with Governors Lu- 
cas and Mason, 138, 144 

Hubbard, William B.. chosen 
Speaker of House in Ohio, 101 

Hudson River, Fulton's steamboat 
upon, 3 

Hull, William, arrives at Dayton, 
31; command of army transferred 
to, 32; message of, to Indians, 33, 
34; son-in-law of, 35; message 
of, to Lucas, 35 ; baggage and 
military papers shipped by, 36; 
strength of army of, 36; papers 
of, captured, 37; army of, 
crosses Detroit River, 38: proc- 
lamation of, 38, 39, 40, 49; 
council called by, 39; obstacles 
confronting, 40 ; refuses troops 
to bury dead at Brownstown, 
47; issues orders for retreat to 
Detroit, 48 ; evacuation of Sand- 
wich by, 49 ; weakness of, 49 ; 
letter of Lucas concerning, 50; 
found asleep, 51; refuses to sur- 
render Detroit, 52 ; neglects to 
provide artillery, 52; Detroit sur- 
rendered by, 53 ; disappointment 
of army of, 55 ; fears of Lucas 



INDEX 



347 



concerning action of, 56; conver- 
sation of, with British officer, 
58; blamed for failure of cam- 
paign, 59 ; court-martial of, 60 ; 
Mc Arthur serves under, 98 
Hull campaign, journal of Lucas in, 
28, 59, 60, 97, 292; reference 
to. 32 
Humphrey, Isaac, letter to Lucas 

from, 102 
Illinois, supports Ohio in bound- 
ary dispute, 148 
"Indian Boundary, Old" 230, 231, 

238 
Indian Creek (Iowa), meeting on, 

244 
Indiana, Indian troubles in, 27; 
supports Ohio in boundary dis- 
pute, 148; visit of Lucas to, 157 
Indianapolis (Indiana), 266 
Indians, wars with, 1 ; trouble 
with, in Shenandoah Valley, 3 ; 
confederation of, 26; murders 
by, 27, 30; in northern Ohio, 
32 ; intrigues of, 32 ; address to, 
at Upper Sandusky, 33; council 
with, at Lower Sandusky, 34; 
alarms of, 36; danger from, 37; 
skii'mish with, 41; British sol- 
diers scalped by, 43 ; attack by, 
45 ; engagement with, at Magu- 
awga, 50; seen at Lake St. Clair, 
51; at surrender of Detroit, 57; 
trouble with, prevents survey of 
boundary, 131; reference to, 156 
229, 230 
Iowa Avenue (Iowa City), 259 
Iowa Capitol Reporter, 288 
Iowa City (Iowa), retirement of 
Lucas at, 257; laying out of, 
258; growth of, 259, 268; Lucas 
makes his home at, 268, 271, 
273, 291; reference to, viii, 266, 
282, 288, 292 
Iowa City Central Scott Club, meet- 
ing of, 276 
Iowa-Missouri Boundary, 227-257 
loiva Republican, The, 276 
Iowa, State of, asks for submis- 
sion of boundary question to Su- 
preme Court, 255 : government 
of, 268, 271; boundaries of, 270 
Iowa, steamboat, 267 
Iowa Territorial Gazette, 201 
Iowa, Territory of, act creating, 
155; Lucas sees, for first time, 
165; legislature of, 169; Organic 
Act of, 171, 193, 197, 201, 204, 
206, 208, 210. 213, 233, 278; 
temporary Capital of, 173, 175, 
176 ; First Legislative Assembly 
of, 179-186; militia of, 182; 
prerogatives of Governor of, 183 ; 



boundary question bequeathed to, 
233 ; reference to, 238, 239, 240, 
242, 254, 255, 256, 264, 266, 
271, 284, 285, 286, 291 

loway Indians, 229 

Irwin, Judge, Conway takes oath 
before, 171 

Italy, Sir Walter Scott on his way 
to, 108 

Jackson, Andrew, success of, at 
New Orleans, 76; Lucas an ad- 
mirer of, 82 ; struggle of, for 
Presidency, 83 ; effect of elec- 
tion of 1824 upon, 84; political 
prospects of, 85, 86, 87; Lucas 
casts vote for, 92 ; activity of 
Lucas in support of, 95 : use of 
"Coffin Hand Bills" against, 98 ; 
desire to support principles of, 
in Ohio, 104; decides to remake 
his cabinet, 107; sends nomina- 
tion of Van Buren to the Sen- 
ate, 108; candidacy in 1832 tak- 
en for granted, 110; Judge 
Overton a friend of, 111; forces 
opposed to, 116; sends Commis- 
sioners to confer with Governors 
Lucas and Mason, 138; convinced 
of soundness of claims of Michi- 
gan, 141; legal opinion concern- 
ing Ohio boundary requested by, 
141; proposal of commissioners 
to, and answer of, 144 ; returns 
boundary question to Congress, 
149; Conway supports, 170 

Jackson committees, work of, 86 

Jackson County (Ohio), 92 

Jackson forces in campaign of 
1834, 124 

Jacobs, Cyrus, death of, 181 

Jasper (Ohio), land owned by Lu- 
cas at, 81; letter of Lucas from, 
271 

Jefferson, Thomas, proclamation 
of, 3 ; William Lucas votes for. 
6 ; treaty of, with Napoleon, 8 ; 
negotiations of, with England. 
12, 14, 15 ; Democratic mantle 
of, falls upon Jackson, 82 • re- 
moves Governor St. Clair from 
office. 120; days of, 274; Lucas's 
opinion of, 2 78 

Jefferson Barracks, General Atkin- 
son stationed at, 156 

Jefferson County (Virginia), Ed- 
ward Lucas settles in, 2 ; Lucas 
family leaves, 5, 6 

Johnson, Andrew, impeachment 
trial of. 211 

Johnson, Richard M., candidate for 
Vice Presidential nomination, 
110; votes for, in convention, 
113 



348 



INDEX 



Johnson County (Iowa), Claim As- 
sociation of, 258; reference to, 
258, 268, 269, 287 

Jones, George W., names presiden- 
tial nominees, 169; meets Lu- 
cas, 175 

Journal of Robert Lucas, 28, 59, 
60, 97, 292 

Kansas River, 230, 232, 234 

Kendall, Amos, letter of William 
B. Lewis to, proposing national 
convention, 106 

Kendall, William, marriage of, 17; 
campaign between Lucas and, 
23; Lucas writes to, 50; part- 
nership of, with Lucas, 72 ; suc- 
ceeds Lucas as Senator, 77; can- 
didate for State Senate in 1828, 
87 ; attitude of, on canal ques- 
tion, 90 ; election of, to Senate 
in 1828, 91; resignation of, 92 

Kentucky, migration to, 5 ; refer- 
ence to, 17, 254; political rise 
of, 82 

Kight, John, Lucas purchases claim 
from, 259 

Kilgore, Major, member of court of 
enquiry, 68 

Kinder hook (New York), Van Bu- 
ren writes from, 114 

King, John, entertains Lucas, 175 

King, Mr., of Alabama, presents 
name of Lucas as chairman of 
national convention. 111 

Kirker, Thomas, issues commission 
to Lucas, 13 ; tender of service 
of troops addressed to, 14 

Knickerbocker, steamboat, 175 

Lake Erie, 87, 62, 81, 127, 130, 
133, 135 

Lake Michigan, line drawn from 
southern extremity of, 127, 129, 
130, 131, 135 

Lake St. Clair, Indians at, 51 

Langworthy, Mr., 175 

Lawrence County (Ohio), 77, 84, 
86, 87, 92 

Lea, Albert Miller, appointment of, 
as commissioner, 235 ; survey 
and report of, 236; recommenda- 
tions of, 238; report of, 243 

LeClaire, Antoine, influence of, over 
Conway, 173 

Legislative Assembly of Territory 
of Iowa, First, 179-186; clerks 
of, 189-199; attitude of, toward 
expenditures, 197; desire of, to 
dominate, 198, 213; asks for 
removal of Lucas, 215; adjourn- 
ment of, 215; lavish expendi- 
tures of, 220 

Lenawee County (Michigan), 142 

Leopard, attacks Chesapeake, 11 



Lewis, Warner, Lucas sends orders 
to, 248; letter to Lucas, 248 

Lewis, William B., letter of, pro- 
posing national convention, 106 

Library, Territorial, 161, 178 

Lindsav, John M., Lucas writes to, 
23, 91 

Little Scioto River, 17 

London, Van Buren arrives in, 
107; Washington Irving at, 108 

Louisiana, purchase of, 8, 9 

Louisville (Kentucky), 161 

Lowndes, William, influence of, in 
Congress, 26 

Lucas, Abigail, comes to Iowa, 266 

Lucas, Edward, and Company, 161 

Lucas, Edward, migration of, 2 

Lucas, Edward W., trip of, to 
Iowa, 266 

Lucas, Friendly A., life of, at 
Friendly Grove, 79 ; remains at 
Friendly Grove, 159 ; joins her 
husband in Iowa, 266 

Lucas, John, chosen Captain of 
volunteers, 29; reference to, 57 

Lucas, Joseph, migration of, to 
Ohio, 5 ; political record of, 6 ; 
descendant of, 71 

Lucas, Mary, comes to Iowa, 266 

Lucas, Minerva, 24, 60 

Lucas, Mrs. (Elizabeth Brown), 
death of, 60 

Lucas, Robert (early ancestor), ar- 
rives in America, 1 

Lucas, Robert, characterization of, 
vii; letters and papers of, viii, 
portraits of, frontispiece, oppo- 
site 25, opposite 82 ; history of 
grandfather and father of, 2 ; 
birth of, 3; early life of, 4; Sur- 
veyor of Scioto County, 8 ; re- 
ceives appointment to raise 
troops, 9 ; receives military com- 
missions, 10 ; ordered to detach 
troops, 12 ; Captain of volunteer 
troops, 13 ; verse by, 13 ; signa- 
ture of, 14, 20; commissioned 
Justice of the Peace, 16; Wil- 
liam Kendall married by, 17; de- 
livers Fourth of July oration, 
17, marriage of, to Elizabeth 
Brown, 17, 22, 24; election of, 
to State legislature, 18; commis- 
sioned Colonel, 19 ; elected Briga- 
dier General, 19; arrest of, 21, 
91; experiments of, with perpet- 
ual motion machine, 24; at open- 
ing of War of 1812, 25; ordered 
to transmit troops, 27; commis- 
sioned as Captain in United 
States Army, 28; journal of, 
28, 59, 60, 292; troops recruited 
by, 29; enlistment of, as private, 



INDEX 



349 



30; report of, to Governor Meigs 
31; watches outside camp, 31 
reads message of Hull to Indians, 
33 ; leaves Upper Sandusky, 34 
reaches Detroit, 34; leaves De 
troit, 35 ; report of, to Genera 
Hull, 36; crosses Detroit River 
38; duties of, with army. 40 
in skirmish at bridge, 41; in ex 
pedition to River Raisin, 44 ; in 
engagement at Brownstown, 46, 
47; conversation of, with Mr. 
Beard, 50; position of, at close 
of Hull campaign, 56; leaves 
Fort Detroit, 57; possibility of 
being sent to Quebec, 58: boards 
ship for Ohio, 58; stops at Cleve- 
land. 59; arrives at Portsmouth, 
59 ; end of journal of, 59 ; first 
wife of, dies, 60 ; resigns Cap- 
taincy in United States Army, 
60 ; appointed Lieutenant Colo- 
nel in United States Army, 61; 
resigns office of Lieutenant Colo- 
nel, 62 ; joins army of Harrison, 
63 : in meeting of militia officers 
at Camp Ohio, 64 ; tried by court 
of enquiry, 65 ; later political 
campaigns of, 65; letter of, con- 
cerning court of enquiry, 66 ; re- 
sistance of arrest by, 68 ; accused 
by Glover of misconduct in Hull 
campaign, 68 ; acquitted by court 
of enquiry, 69 ; elected to State 
Senate, 69, 70; interests of, in 
Senate, 70; reelection of, to Sen- 
ate, 70 ; elected Major General, 
71; second marriage of, 71; 
moves to Piketon, 71; store of, 
71, 72; chosen Speaker of Sen- 
ate, 72 ; attacked by Charles 
Hammond, 72 ; receives votes for 
United States Senate, 74, 77; 
changes in, 74; joins Methodist 
Church, 75 ; poems of, 75, 76 ; 
in campaign of 1820, 76, 77; 
builds house in Pike County, 78; 
returned to State Senate. 80 ; 
conduct of, concerning canals, 
criticised, 81; admiration of, for 
Jackson, 82 ; letter from Caleb 
Atwater to, 83, 84; a candidate 
for State Senate in 1828, 87; 
offers canal resolution, 89 ; de- 
feat of, in 1828, 91; chosen presi- 
dential elector, 92 ; in election of 
1829, 92, 93 ; chosen Speaker of 
Senate in 1829, 93 ; campaign of, 
for Governorship of Ohio, 95 ; 
nomination of, as Governor of 
Ohio, 96 ; characterizes Duncan 
Mc Arthur, 97; political attacks 
upon, 98 ; letter of, to Melcher, 



99; defeat of, in election of 1830 
100; election of, to Ohio House 
of Representatives, 101; nomi- 
nation of, in 1832, 101, 103; 
urges appointment of county dele- 
gates, 102 ; chairman of Demo- 
cratic national convention of 
1832, 105; a delegate from Ohio 
in national convention, 111; ad- 
dress of, to national convention, 
112; committee appointed by, 
113; receives vote of thanks of 
convention, 113; helps draft let- 
ter to Van Buren, 114; strength 
of, in campaign of 1832, 117; 
election of, as Governor of Ohio, 
118; inauguration of, 119; inau- 
gural address of, 119; military 
power of Governor, 121; pardon 
power not altogether a blessing 
to, 122 ; letter to, concerning par- 
don, 122 ; first term of, as Gov- 
ernor of Ohio, 123 ; message of, 
to General Assembly, 123 ; per- 
formance of administrative duties 
by, 124; Allen G. Thurman pri- 
vate secretary of, 124; a candi- 
date for Governorship in 1834, 
124; attacks upon, 124; reelec- 
tion of, as Governor of Ohio, 125; 
inauguration of, 125; second 
term of, largely concerned with 
boundary, 126; petitioned by peo- 
ple of disputed tract, 134 ; spe- 
cial message upon boundary mat- 
ters, 134; attitude of, toward 
State Rights, 135; arrives at 
Perrysburg, 136, attitude of, to- 
ward claims of Ohio, 140 ; dis- 
bands border army, 142 ; report 
of survey commissioners to. 142 ; 
calls special session of legislature, 
143 ; county of Ohio named after, 
144 ; sends commissioners to 
Washington, 144 ; not a candi- 
date for Governorship in 1836, 
150; State Rights Association 
agrees to vote for, 150; accused 
of joining Whigs, 151; candi- 
dacy of, for United States Sen- 
ate, 152, 153 ; retiring message 
of, in 1836, 153 : candidate for 
State Senate, 154; defeat of, 
155 ; relations with Thomas L. 
Hamer, 155; appointed Governor 
of Teritory of Iowa, 157: life of, 
in Ohio, 158; leaves Ohio, 159; 
stops in Cincinnati, 160; selects 
Territorial library, 161; descrip- 
tion of, 163 ; chairman of steam- 
boat meeting, 164; reaches Ter- 
ritory of Iowa, 165 ; personal ap- 
pearance of, 167; sanctions docu- 



350 



INDEX 



tnents of Conway, 168 ; letter 
from Conway to, 172; attitude 
of, toward Conway, 174; corre- 
spondence of, with Conway, 176; 
conference of, with Conway, 177; 
message of, 179; attitude of, to- 
ward intemperance and gambling, 
180, 215; financial policy of, 
182, 187-199; gives opinion to 
Conway, 192 ; not present at con- 
ference of legislators, 193 ; trans- 
mission of letter of, to legislature, 
196 ; alliance of Secretary and 
legislature against, 199 ; rela- 
tions to Conway, 200, 202; cop- 
ies records in Executive Journal, 
201; contingent fund of, 202; 
letter to Conway concerning fur- 
niture and executive duties, 203 ; 
crisis with Conwav, 205; vetoes 
of, 206, 207, 208, 209, 213; 
policy of, concerning vetoes, 206, 
211; Conway characterizes, 209; 
notes on bills, 211; memorial 
praying for removal of, 212, 214, 
215, 218; makes a tour of the 
interior, 216; unofficial petition 
for removal of, 216; writes to 
Secretary of State, concerning 
petition for removal, 217; ans- 
wers charges in memorial, 218; 
not removed, 219; recognizes 
amendments as salutary, 219; 
appropriation bill presented to, 
221; letter of, to Secretary For- 
syth, 222 ; relations of James 
Clarke and. 226; part of, in 
boundary disputes, 228; cham- 
pions claims of Territory of Iowa, 
233 ; appoints Dr. Davis as com- 
missioner, 236; letter from Van 
Buren County to, 239; issues 
proclamation, 239; former par- 
ticipation in boundary dispute, 
240; issues a second proclama- 
tion, 241; calls attention of Mar- 
shal to need of vigilance in 
boundary troubles, 243 ; warns 
inhabitants of Van Buren Coun- 
ty, 244 ; receives word from bor- 
der, 244 ; signs letter to Marshal, 
245 ; talks with captured Sher- 
iff. 246 : writes to Secretary For- 
syth, 247 ; use of militia by, in 
border troubles, 248 ; asked to 
suspend military operations, 252 ; 
vetoes resolutions, 252 ; sends 
Morgan to Washington, 254; re- 
tirement of, at Iowa City, 256, 
257; visits of, to Iowa City, 259; 
urges formation of State govern- 
ment, 260; suggests boundaries 
for State, 260; office duties of, 



261; negotiations of, with In- 
dians, 262; removal of, expected, 
262; removal of, 264, 265; let- 
ter from Daniel Webster con- 
cerning removal of, 264 ; makes 
home at Bloomington, 265; joins 
Masonic Lodge, 266; family 
joins, 266; returns to Ohio, 267; 
enters campaign in Ohio in 1843, 
267; defeated for Congress in 
1843, 268; chosen delegate of 
convention of 1844, 269; partici- 
pation of, in convention of 1844, 
270; boundaries proposed by, 
270; final trip to Ohio, 271; de- 
sires re-appointment as Govern- 
or of Territory of Iowa, 271, 
272; final return to Iowa, 273; 
retirement of, 273, 274, 277; 
leaves Democratic party, 275; 
refuses to vote for Pierce, 276; 
presides over Scott Club, 276; 
political philosophy of, 278-283; 
sentiments concerning slaverv, 
281, 282; letter to Hamer, 282; 
last days of, 284-292; interest 
of, in temperance movement, 
284, 285, 288; daguerreotype of, 
286 ; suports cause of education, 
286, 288; member of Board of 
Trustees of State University of 
Iowa, 286; interest of, in canals 
and railways, 287, 288; disap- 
pointments of, 290; influence of, 
290, 291; life at Plum Grove, 
291; religious poems of, 291; 
death of, 292 

Lucas, Robert, (grandson of the 
Governor), assistance of, viii, ix 

Lucas, Susanna, John Rush mar- 
ries, 2 

Lucas, William, birth and marriage 
of, 2 ; military service of, 3 ; 
land and slaves of, 4, 6; migra- 
tion of, to Ohio, 6 

Lucas, William (Jr.), migration 
of, to Ohio, 5 ; military record of 
5 

Lucas family, history of, 1; migra- 
tions of, 5, 6 

Lucas County (Ohio), 144, 145 

Lucas Boundaries, 270, 271 

Lyman, Darius, colleague of Lucas 
in 1829, 93; anounced as Anti' 
Jacksonian candidate, 116 

Lyon, Lucius, senator from Michi- 
"gan, 147 

Lytle, Robert, letter from, 143 

McArthur, Duncan, friendship of, 
and Lucas, 19 ; assists Lucas to 
secure commission, 28 ; chosen 
Colonel, 29 ; Lucas lodges with, 
36; expedition of, 40; asks to 



INDEX 



351 



take detachment to bury dead at 
Brownstown, 47; expedition of, 
to meet Captain Brush, 52 ; 
troops of, surrendered, 53 ; lands 
near Cleveland, 58; reference to, 
60, 61, 62, 74; colleague of Lu- 
cas in 1829, 93 ; nominated as 
Governor of Ohio, 97; Lucas's 
opinion of, 97; early career of, 
97; election of, as Governor of 
Ohio, 100; renomination of, 115; 
withdraws to run for Congress, 
116; defeat of, for Congress, 
118; William Allen marries a 
daughter of, 119 

McClane, Alexander, assists in ar- 
rest of Lucas, 24 

McCrory, Samuel H., chosen dele- 
gate to convention of 1844, 269 

McCullough, Captain, death of, 45 

McDonald, John, member of court 
of enquiry, 68 

M'Gregor, Mr., letter directed to, 
66, 67 

Mackinaw, Indians on way from, 
51 

McLane, Louis, mentioned as Vice 
Presidential candidate, 106 

McLean, John, suports Lucas for 
Governor of Ohio, 98 

McLene, Jeremiah, resignation of, 
as Brigadier General, 19 ; mem- 
ber of court of enquiry, 68 

McMullen (or McMurrin), Robert 
Lucas instructed by, 4 

McMurrin (or McMullen), Robert 
Lucas instructed by, 4 

Madeira, Daniel, appointment of, 
on committee, 72 ; arraigned by 
Hammond, 73 ; defense of, by 
Lucas, 73 

Madison, James, message of, 26 

Maguawga, Indian town of, 44 ; en- 
gagement at, 50 

Maiden, British forces at, 35 ; In- 
dians going to, 36; attack upon, 
39; reference to, 40, 42, 44, 48, 
58 ; Prophet arrives at, 43 

Manary, James, in meeting of mili- 
tia officers at Camp Ohio, 64 

Maria of Presque Isle, the, leaves 
for Ohio, 58 

Marietta (Ohio), settlement of, 5 

Mason, Charles, signs letter to Mar- 
shal, 245 ; counsel for Iowa be- 
fore Supreme Court, 256 ; inter- 
ested in. temperance movement, 
285 

Mason, Stevens T., Acting Govern- 
or of Territory of Michigan, 136; 
arrives with troops at Toledo, 
137; repudiates terms of commis- 
sioners, 139; attitude of, 141; 



Jackson makes recommendations 
to, 144 ; removal of, 145 ; chosen 
Governor of State of Michigan, 
146 

Masonic Lodge, Lucas joins, 266; 
attendance of Lucas at meetings 
of, 273, 284 

Maumee (Ohio), 133, 146 

Maumee River, 127, 128, 129, 130, 
133, 148 

Medary, Samuel, letter from Lucas 
to, 271 

Mediterranean Sea, Chesapeake 
bound for, 11 

Meigs, Return Jonathan, calls for 
troops, 27; asks Lucas to stay 
with militia, 31; commended by 
militia officers, 64 

Meigs County (Ohio), 84 

Melcher, J. C., editor of Chillicothe 
Eveniny Post, 99 

Methodist Church, Lucas joins, 75 ; 
Lucas a member of, 291 

Mexican War, 227 

Miami and Dayton Canal, 80, 88, 
148 

Miami Bay, line drawn to north 
cape of, 129, 130 

Miami Canal, 80, 88, 148 

Miami County (Ohio), 133 

Miami of the Lake, Lucas passes 
the, 34, 36, 37: reference to, 
127, 129, 130, 133, 148 

Miami Indians, address of Gen- 
eral Hull to, 33 ; council with, 
84 

Michigan, Lake, line drawn from 
southern extremity of, 127, 129, 
130, 131, 135 

Michigan, part of Northwest Terri- 
tory, 7 

Michigan, Territory of, dispute over 
boundary of, 126-149; organiza- 
tion of, 129; act organizing, 130; 
Fulton Line claimed as boundary 
by, 132 ; disputed strip under 
jurisdiction of, 132 ; boundary 
dispute not one between State of 
Ohio and, 134, 139; act of Feb- 
ruary 12, 1835, passed by, 136; 
arrests by authority of, 139; 
claims of, 141; reference to, 233, 
235, 240 

Michigan, State government of, 146, 
147, 148, 149 

Militia, ideas of Lucas concerning, 
119, 123, 182 

Miller, James, Ohio troops joined 
by, 30; given permission to cap- 
ture bridge, 40; expedition of, to 
meet Captain Brush, 50; in en- 
gagement at Maguawga, 50; Lu- 



352 



INDEX 



cas acts as recruiting officer un- 
der. 60 

Mississippi River, 96, 164, 165, 
169, 175, 211, 229, 231, 232, 
237, 238, 260, 289 

Missouri (State), not represented 
in convention at Baltimore, 111; 
boundaries of, 174, 231, 232, 
235, 238. 242, 256; admission 
into the Union, 231; commission- 
er appointed by, 234; letter of 
Governor of, 236; old northwest 
corner of, 237; adopts Brown 
Line, 238: proclamation of Lu- 
cas received in, 241 ; embodiment 
of armed force by, 247, 250; 
asks for submission of boundary 
question to Supreme Court, 255 ; 
settlement of boundary dispute 
of, 256 

Missouri-Iowa Boundary, 227-257 

Missouri River, 229, 230, 233, 234, 
235, 237, 238, 256, 260 

Mitchell, map published by, 127 

Mitchell, David, candidate for Ohio 
Senate, 92, 93 

Monroe, James, tries to negotiate 
treaty with England, 10; letter 
from Lucas to, 60; Lucas votes 
for, 77 

Monroe County (Ohio), represented 
by Charles Hammond, 72 

Morgan, James M., sent to Wash- 
ington, D. C, by Lucas, 254 

Morris, Cavalry, among Anti- 
Jacksonians in 1834, 125 

Morris, Thomas, accepts rumors 
concerning Lucas, 151; Lucas 
frustrates plan of, 155 

Morrow, Jeremiah, election of Sen- 
ator to succeed, 74 

Muscatine (Iowa), 259, 265 

Muskingum County (Ohio), 122 

Muskingum River, Marietta found- 
ed at mouth of, 5 

Napoleon Bonaparte, treaty of, with 
President Jefferson, 8, 9; issues 
Berlin decree, 10 

Napoleon (Johnson County, Iowa), 
commissioners meet at, 258 

National Republicans, gather about 
Henry Clay, 96; candidate of, 
96, 115; national convention of, 
105; withdraw their candidate, 
116 

National Road, improvement of, fa- 
vored by Lucas, 123 

Negro Town, address to Indians at, 
33 

New Englanders, settle Marietta, 5 

New Hampshire, national conven- 
tion called by legislature of, 106 



New Orleans, Battle of, 77, 82, 
102, 150; Henry Clay at, 96 

Newark (Ohio), work on Ohio Ca- 
nal begun at, 80 

"Nig", horse of Friendly Lucas, 79 

Norfolk, Chesapeake leaves, 11 

Northwest Ordinance, 121, 126, 
127, 128, 129, 132, 148 

Northwest Territory, first town in, 
5 ; division of, 6 ; pioneers in, 
97; Governorship of, 120; State 
of Ohio carved out of, 121; or- 
dinance for government of, 126; 
States to be carved out of, 127 

Norvell, John, Senator from Michi- 
gan, 147 

Nova Scotia, 35 

Nullification, ideas of Lucas con- 
cerning, 119, 279 

Ohio, influence of Lucas upon 
formative period of, vii; legisla- 
ture of, 4, 6, 18, 97; migration 
to, 5; militia of, 5, 9, 10, 12, 18, 
19, 20, 30, 31, 58, 60, 61, 63, 
64, 65, 97, 121, 123, 124, 136, 
233; early life in, 7, 20, 21; In- 
dian disturbances in, 27; volun- 
teers of, refuse to cross Detroit 
River, 38; political rise of, 83; 
result of campaign of 1824 in, 
84; considered a doubtful state, 
85; canal legislation for, 86; 
campaign of 1828 in, 92 ; Henry 
Clay visits, 96 ; delegate to na- 
tional convention from, 111; pre- 
rogatives of Governor of, 120, 
121, 183 ; convention to form State 
constitution of, 121, 128; inter- 
nal improvements in, 123 ; dis- 
pute over boundary of, 126-149; 
northern counties of, 127; State 
constitutional convention discuss- 
es boundaries of, 128; proviso 
as to boundary in State consti- 
tution of, 129, 130, 131, 133, 
135; constitution of, adopted, 
129 ; attitude of people of, to- 
ward boundary proviso, 130; al- 
legiance of people of disputed 
tract to, 134 ; grounds of, in 
boundary dispute, 134 ; boundary 
dispute one between United States 
and, 134, 139; activity of dele- 
gation in Congress in boundary 
matter, 143, 148 ; lake ports 
needed by, 148; growth of, 158; 
legislative expenditures of, 190; 
Lucas returns to, 267, 271; An- 
sel Briggs comes from, 274; Lu- 
cas as Governor of, 279, 280, 
287 
Ohio Canal, construction of, 80 ; 



INDEX 



353 



bill authorizing, 81, 88; trouble 
over route of, 88, 89, 90, 91 
Ohio-Michigan Boundary, The, 126 
Ohio Monitor, Lucas sends commu- 
nication to, 73 
Ohio River, 5, 16, 59, 160-167, 288, 

290 
Ohio State Bulletin, editorial of, 
95; predictions of, in 1830, 100 
"Old Hickory," Lucas a follower 

of, 82 
"Old Mockasin" newspaper item 

signed, 91 
Ordinance of 1787, 121, 126, 127, 

128, 129, 132, 148 
Oregon question, 280 
Osage Indians, 229 
Osborn, Ezra, in meeting of mili- 
tia officers at Camp Ohio, 64 
Ottawas, address of General Hull 

to, 33 
Overton, Thomas, unable to attend 

national convention, 111 
Parvin, Josiah, Gregory boards 

with, 246 
Parvin, Theodore S., meets Lucas, 
150; acts as Private Secretary 
to Lucas, 164; Secretary of 
steamboat meeting. 164; trip of, 
to Cincinnati, 176, 178; inter- 
view of, with Conway, 177 ; de- 
scribes close of legislative ses- 
sion, 215 
Pay roll of Ohio soldiers, 65 
Penn, William, colony of, 1 
Pennsylvania, Bucks County, 1 ; 

John Rush crosses to, 2 
Peoria (Illinois), 266 
Perrv Countv (Ohio), 83 
Perrvsburg (Ohio), 133, 136, 138 
Philadelphia, 84, 143 
Pickaway County (Ohio), 83 
Pierce, Franklin, nomination of, 
275; Lucas unable to vote for, 
276, 277 
Pike Countv (Ohio), Lucas moves 
to, 71; reference to, 77, 81, 86, 
92, 271 
Piketon (Ohio), description of, 71; 
Lucas opens store at, 71; Ohio 
canal and, 81, 88, 89, 90, 91; 
Edward Lucas leaves, 266 
Pinckney, William, joins Monroe at 

London, 10 
Pioneer, story of the, 1, 289; life 

of, in Ohio, 7 
Piqua (Ohio), canal finished to, 

133 
"Plain Truth," communication of 

Lucas signed by, 73 
Plum Grove, the last home of Rob- 
ert Lucas, 277, 291, 292 



Polk, James, appointments of, in 

Iowa, 271 
Port Vincennes, troops from, 30 
Portraits, Robert Lucas, from an 
oil painting, frontispiece; Rob- 
ert Lucas from a water-color 
painting, opposite 25; Robert Lu- 
cas from a crayon, opposite 82 
Portsmouth (Ohio), tavern in, 16; 
life of Lucas at, 24 ; Lucas re- 
cruits troops at, 29; arrival of 
Lucas at, 59, 60; reference to. 
65, 76, 81, 88; letter postmarked 
at, 66 ; canal to, 80 ; stage from 
Chillicothe to, 153 
Potomac River, Edward Lucas set- 
tles near, 2 ; steamboat upon, 3 
Pottawattomies, address of General 
Hull to, 33; war party of, 36; 
reference to, 229 
Proctor, Henry, attack upon Fort 

Stephenson by, 62, 63 
Puthuflf, Major W. H., letter direct- 
ed to, 66, 67 
Quakers, Lucas family, 1; John 

Rush joins, 2 ; instincts of, 3 
Quebec, sending of troops to, 56, 

58 
Queen Charlotte, the, arrives at Mai- 
den, 35 
Quincy (Illinois), 165 
Railways in Iowa, 287, 288 
Raisin River, Lucas passes, 34 : ex- 
pedition to, 44; (Captain Brush 
at, 50, 52 ; massacre of wing of 
Harrison's army at, 62 
Rangers, Lucas ordered to take 

command of, 61 
"Rapids of the river Des Moines", 

232, 234, 237 
Reed, William, trip of, to Iowa, 

266 
Republican party, rise of, 275 
Revolution, service of William Lu- 
cas in, 3 
Robb, David, Lucas thanks, 66 
Robb, Joshua, letter of Lucas to, 68 
Robinson, Captain, company of, 42 
Rock Island (Illinois), 178 
Rockingham (Iowa), 175, 176 
Rorer, David, shoots Cyrus Jacobs, 

181 
Rose, George Henry, sent to Amer- 
ica, 14 ; returns to England, 15 
Roundheads, days of, 25 
Round Heads Town, Lucas passes, 

36 
Rumsey, engineer, 4 
Rupe, ' David, chosen Captain of 
rifle company, 29: trip of, to 
Greenville, 30; mutiny in com- 
pany of, 38 



354 



INDEX 



Rush, John, comes to America, 2 

Rush, Richard, sent as commission- 
er to confer with Governors Lu- 
cas and Mason, 138, 144 

Sac Indians, 229, 231 

St. Clair, Arthur, Governorship in 
Northwest Territory, 120; use of 
veto power, 121 

St. Clair, Lake, Indians at, 51 

St. Louis, Lucas ordered to, 61; 
General Atkinson stationed at, 
156; Lucas arrives at, 165 

"Rural Swain", communication 
signed, 90 

St. Paul Street, Baltimore, 111 

Sanduskv, Lower, journey of Lucas 
through, 35, 34 

Sandusky, Upper, address to In- 
dians at, 33 ; army of Harrison 
at, 63 

Sandusky campaign, 262 

Sandusky River, 62 

Sandwich, importance of, in Hull 
campaign, 37; army encamps at, 
40; reference to, 42, 43, 44, 47; 
evacuation of, 49 

Science, steamboat, 177 

Scioto County (Ohio), 6, 8, 18, 70, 
72, 77, 84, 86, 92 

Scioto River, 5, 6, 16, 71, 81, 88, 
153 

Scott, Denton, in skirmishing at 
bridge, 41 

Scott, Sir Walter, at London, 108 

Scott, Winfield, Lucas determines 
to vote for, 276 

Scrub Race for the Presidency, re- 
sult of, 84 

Seat of Government of Territory of 
Iowa, 258 

Sergeant, John, nominee for Vice 
Presidency, 105 

Shaler, Charles, declines offer of 
Acting Governorship of Michigan 
Territory, 145 

Shambaugh, Benj. F., discovery of 
Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838- 
1841 by, viii; acknowledgments 
to, ix 

Shannon, Wilson, introduces Ansel 
Briggs to Lucas, 274 

Shawnees, address of General Hull 
to, 33 

Shenandoah River, 2, 165 

Shenandoah Valley, 3, 5, 289 

Shepherdstown (Virginia), mar- 
riage of William Lucas at, 2 ; 
Robert Lucas born at, 3 ; steam- 
boat at, 4 

Sketch Book, scenes of, 108 

Sinsinuawa Mound, 175 

Sioux Indians, 229 



Slavery, opinion of Lucas concern- 
ing, 281 

Slaves of William Lucas, 4, 6 

Snelling, Captain, asks for artil- 
lery, 52 

Solomons Town, Lucas passes, 36 

Soiith Carolina, nullification in, 119, 
279 

Spain, involved in purchase of 
Louisiana, 9 ; Irving returns 
from, 108 

Spoils System, working of, 265 

Spring Well, army encamps at, 37; 
British landing at, 52 

State Bank, favored by Lucas, 123 

State Journal and Columbus Ga- 
zette, quotation from, 115, 151; 
letter from Mc Arthur in, 116 

State Rights, 279 

State Rights Association, resolu- 
tions of, 150 

State University of Iowa, Lucas a 
Trustee of, 286 

Stillwater Creek, settlers on, 30 

Stockton, William, in engagement 
at Brownstown, 46, 47 

Sullivan, John C., boundary line 
surveyed by, 230 

Sullivan Boundary Line, 230, 231, 
235, 237, 238, 239, 242, 245, 
256 

Summers, Lewis, Lucas succeeds, 
as State Senator, 69 

Summers, Samuel W., certificate 
of, 191 

Sumner, Edward C, Mrs. Lucas 
a daughter of, 71 

Sumner, Friendly A., Horatio Sum- 
ner a brother of, 24 ; marriage 
of, to Lucas, 71 

Sumner, Horatio N., marriage of, 
24 

Supreme Court of the United States, 
boundary question submitted to, 
255 

Surrender of Detroit, 53, 59, 74 

Swayne, N. H., goes to Washing- 
ton, 144 

Talleyrand, Prince, at Court of St. 
James, 108, 110 

Tecumseh, confederation under, 26 ; 
protestations of peace by, 27 

Temperance, attitude of Lucas to- 
ward, 180, 284 

Temperance Society, Iowa Territori- 
al, Lucas president of, 285 

Tempest, steamboat, 161, 166 

Tennessee, migration to, 5 ; politi- 
cal rise of, 82 ; nomination of 
Jackson by legislature of, 83 ; 
reference to. 111 

Teneick, Mathew, house of, 259 



INDEX 



355 



Thompson, Judge, Glover examined 
before, 66 

Thompson, William, Lucas asked to 
pardon, 122 

Thornton, John H., assists in ar- 
rest of Lucas, 24 

Thurman, Allen G., private secre- 
tary of Governor Lucas, 124 ; 
secretary of convention which 
nominates Lucas for Congress, 
267 

Tiffin, Edward, military appoint- 
ments by, 9 ; commissions Lucas 
Justice of the Peace, 16; directs 
survev of Ohio boundary to be 
run, 131 

Toledo, proposed terminus of canal, 
133; troops enter, 137, 145; 
court to meet in, 145 

Toledo War, The, 126, 138 

Treasury Department of the United 
States, accounts of Conway with, 
191, 213, 221, 224; exploitation 
of, 280 

Trimble, William A., chosen Major, 
29; United States Senator, 74; 
death of, 77 

Turkey Creek, force crosses, 41 ; 
British cross, 44 

Turner, John R., issues writ for 
arrest of Lucas, 22; letter to Lu- 
cas from, 89 

Tyler, John, appointments of, in 
Iowa, 271 

Tvmochte, Lucas ferried across the, 
■34 

Ullery, Captain, company of, 42 

Union Township, (Scioto County, 
Ohio), 16 

United States, trouble with Eng- 
land and France, 10; plan of 
campaign on the part of, in the 
War of 1812, 35; line between 
Canada and, 127; boundary dis- 
pute between State of Ohio and, 
134; territorial growth of, 227; 
boundary dispute between Mis- 
souri and, 242, 252 

United States Bank, 98, 279 

Universalist Church, Baltimore, na- 
tional convention meets in. 111 

Vance, Joseph, Whig nominee for 
Governor, 150; inauguration of, 
153 

Van Buren, Martin, aspirations of, 
106, 107 r resignation as Secre- 
tary of State, 107; Minister to 
England, 107-110; rejection of, 
by Senate, 108; effect of rejec- 
tion of, 109, 110 ; nomination of, 
as Vice President, 113 ; accept- 
ance of nomination by, 114; Lu- 
cas's support of, 152 ; letter of 



Lucas to, 156, 157; appoints 
Lucas Governor of Iowa, 157 ; 
Conway supports, 170; corre- 
spondence of Conway with, 209, 
219, 224; petition addressed to, 
216; defeats Harrison for Presi- 
dent, 262 

Van Buren County (Iowa), collec- 
tion of taxes in, 239, 244, 245; 
reference to, 246, 249 

Van Home, Major, expedition of, 
to River Raisin, 44-47 

Van Meter, John I., defeats Lucas 
for State Senate, 155; defeats 
Lucas for Congress, 268 

Varnum, Jacob, despatches deliver- 
ed to, 34 

Veto power of Governor, 193, 194, 
200-215, 219, 270, 280 

Viele, Philip, aspires to Governor- 
ship, 263 

Vinton, Samuel, Lucas a candidate 
against, 95 ; supports claims of 
Ohio, 147 

Virginia, Edward Lucas migrates 
to, 2 ; Thomas Jefferson Govern- 
or of, 3 ; early training of Lucas 
in, 8 

Wallace, Rev. Mr., prayer by, at 
national convention, 114 

War of 1812, 25-65; events lead- 
ing to, 25 ; conditions following 
the, 74; reference to, 97, 274, 
292 ; prevents running 0/ bound- 
ary line, 131; Sandusky cam- 
paign in, 262 

War, Department of, neglect of duty 
by, 37 

Warsaw, 165 

Washington, George, example of, 13 

Washington, D. C., Cass goes to, 
59 ; Lucas receives orders from, 
61; affairs at, 85 

Waterloo (Missouri), meeting at, 
241; troops gathering in, 244, 
250; delegation to, 252 

W^ebster, Daniel, speech of, agairist 
Van Buren, 108, 110; correspond- 
ence with Lucas concerning re- 
moval, 264 

Welch, Captain Nathaniel, company 
of, 3 

Wellington, Duke of, resistance of, 
to Reform Bill, 108 

Western Reserve, politics in, 100 

Western Times, letter of Lucas in, 
23; attack upon Lucas in, 90 

Weston, Charles, gives official opin- 
ion on boundary dispute, 247 

Wheelersburg, 152 

Whicher, Stephen, report of, con- 
cerning border troubles, 250 

Whigs, 268, 269, 274, 277 



356 



INDEX 



Whittlesey, Elisha, accompanies 
commissioners, 138 

Williams, Jesse, joins Lucas, 160; 
reference to, 161, 163; employed 
by Lucas as Messenger, 164; re- 
cords Executive Journal, 201; 
assists in Department of Indian 
Affairs, 261 

Williams, Joseph, signs letter to 
Marshal, 245; desirous of Gov- 
ernorship of Iowa, 271, 272; in- 
terest of, in temperance move- 
ment, 285 

Williams County (Ohio), 134 

Wilson, James, mentioned as suc- 
cessor of Lucas, 263 

Wilson, Mr., sermon of, 76 



Wilson, Thomas, entertains Lucas, 

175 
Wirt, William, nominee for Presi- 
dency, 105 
Wisconsin, Territory of, 169, 233, 

234, 235, 240 
Wood, Reuben, letter to Lucas from, 

100 
Wood County (Ohio), 134 
Woodbury, Levi, letters of Conway 

to, 224 
Worthington, Thomas, candidate 

for United States Senate, 77 
Wyandots, address of General Hull 

to, 33; council with, 34 
Zion Church, legislature convenes 

in, 178 



